The Horrors and Joys of Summer Camp
by Scottie-195
Summary: Risa and Satoshi are stuck following Riku and Daisuke to a summer camp in the mountains! Would they survive somehow? Or would they try to kill each other first? Read to find out!
1. Chapter 1

Hi! This is my first pathetic attempt on a dnangel fanfic so please be gentle. I just recovered from trauma from the accursed mid year exams and a major writer's block. Please read and review! 

Risa sighed as she packed her belongings. She always dreaded this task as she never knew which to choose; the pink blouse or the blue blouse? The flowered shirt or the plain white shirt? The long skirt or the short skirt? The blue sandals or white slippers? The red dress or the green dress? Needless to say, this torturous activity most called 'packing' took at least five hours. Risa would spend half an hour choosing between two outfits and would usually give up and stuff both outfits into the bulging suitcase. She envied Riku. She would take one glance at her wardrobe and throw in (literally) what she needed into her suitcase within fifteen minutes and would still be able to shut the suitcase with enviable ease without having to sit on it. The unfairness! Risa usually needed the combined weight of herself, Riku and the butler in order to buckle her bulging suitcase.

Risa had no idea how Riku managed to talk her into following her and Daisuke into a summer camp. In the mountains! In the wilderness without any television, a decent bathroom, decent food, decent beds and list goes on and on and on. Besides, she found going out with Riku and Daisuke extremely tiring and frustrating. It's _not _as if Daisuke and Riku are one of those impossible couples who act as if they have to hug, kiss and snuggle twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, four weeks a month and twelve months a year. Seriously, can you imagine _Niwa Daisuke _and _Harade Riku_ behaving like that? It took two months before Daisuke screwed up enough courage to ask Riku out on a date and it took Riku two days to screw up the courage to say yes.

Plus, it takes a whole hour before Daisuke plucks up the courage to grab Riku's hand when they're walking together. How does Risa know this? Well, it's pretty obvious. First, you'll see Daisuke staring hard at Riku's hand for fifteen minutes. Then, he screws up his eyes as if he's about to dive off Mt. Everest, and moves his hand a few centimeters towards Riku's hand. Then, he gives up and his hand falls limply to his side again dejectedly. This process would carry on several times before Daisuke would catch Riku's finger (probably by accident) Then, slowly it would progress from one finger to two fingers, then three fingers, then four fingers and _finally_ the whole hand. This was so entertaining that Risa actually timed the whole process. So far, their record time is an hour and fifteen minutes. The day Riku and Daisuke started snogging in public is the day pigs fly.

No, the reason why Risa didn't like going out with her twin and her boyfriend is because they agree on simply damn everything! Everything! They agree on which the best ice cream flavor is, they agree on which movie is worst, they agree on which colour suits Riku's eyes, they agree on which sweater suits Daisuke and they agree on which artist is most inspiring. The following is an example of their loving daily conversation:

"Those fruits were delicious, weren't they?" Riku would say.

"Yes, they were," Daisuke would agree. A very agreeable conversation on fruits would follow after.

"This manga is great! The art is so beautiful!" Daiseke would exclaim.

"You're right! I love the way the eyes are shaded, don't you?" Riku would reply enthusiastically.

"Absolutely!" Daisuke would agree.

Honestly, this was beginning to get into Risa's nerves. She knew couples were suppose to be perfect for each other and all but this was really too much. For crying out loud, they even agree on which the best brand of sanitary pads is! After Risa had scrapped her jaw off the ground she found out Daisuke does some shopping for his mother. But still, how many couples discuss which brand of sanitary pads is the driest, the most comfortable, the thickest and so on? Only one: Harade Riku and Niwa Daisuke. Sometimes, Risa was worried about Daisuke's masculine side, if he had any. However, the image of Daisuke's scrawny arms bulging with muscles was hazardous to Risa's health; she would burst our laughing like a maniac until she would have a major cramp afterwards.

Risa was all set to decline her twin's offer to squat primitively in the mountains until Riku 'accidentally' let slip that Satoshi Hiwatari was tagging along as well. Daisuke somehow managed to talk that stubborn blue-haired genius to follow them. Somehow, the power of Daisuke's adorable persuasion was really frightening. It's not that Risa _wanted_ to see that jerk! It's just that she was curious about how he was. She hadn't spoken to him directly since the Dark and Krad incident. Sure, she glanced at him now and then (approximately sixty times a day in school) but she still wanted to find out more about him. She noticed he was more relaxed and open now that Krad was gone but the only person he really treats as his close friend was Daisuke.

However, it _was_ proven that he was nicer now. Now, when his many fangirls confess their undying love to him, instead of glaring a death glare at the poor girl and telling her politely to get out of his way before he shoved her into a wall, he would tell the girl gently that he wasn't interested and apologize. His fan club took this as a positive development and are currently plotting various ways to catch his attention. Obviously, they all failed but they're more determined than ever.

"Riiiisaaaaa!" Riku hollered from downstairs "We're leaving in ten minutes! Hurry up! For goodness sake just pick the pink one!"

Risa glanced at the yellow T-shirt and the pink T-shirt held in her hands. She had been staring at those particular T-shirts for some time now, debating which one to bring. How on earth did Riku know what she was holding? Risa really feared the power of twin telepathy, though Riku insisted that nearly eighty percent of the time, Risa would be deciding between something pink and something else. Damn, Riku knew too much about her!

"I'm coming!" Risa yelled back. She glanced worriedly at her bursting suitcase; she hadn't even packed half of what she wanted to bring! Going into a panicked frenzy, Risa hurriedly threw in the other three quarters of her wardrobe into the suitcase without looking. She stared in dismay at the pile of clothes rising from the suitcase. It was nearly as tall as her! How on earth was she going to shut it! Desperately, she screamed for her twin and her butler.

"What?" Riku asked as she burst into the room. The butler followed in a more dignified pace. They both stared in disbelief at the mini mountain of clothes in the suitcase. Riku slapped her forehead in exasperation.

"Risa!" she snapped, impatiently "We're going there for a week, not a decade! Why on earth did you bring your whole wardrobe along!"

"Riikuu," Risa glanced pitifully at her twin "What am I going to do?"

Riku sighed. She stared at the impressive pile of clothes. "You won't be needing _this_," she stated, immediately taking out a revealing strapless dress from the suitcase. 'We're going camping, my dear sister. Can you imagine stumbling over roots and rocks clad in this towel?"

Risa glared at her twin. "It's _not_ a towel," she said, outraged "It's the latest silk gown by the most famous clothes designer in the world."

"Pft! You'd look just the same with a towel wrapped around your body after a shower," Riku said, dismissively "You don't need _these _either."

Much the Risa's horror, Riku was methodically taking out all her dresses, gowns and mini-skirts from her suitcase! How would she survive dressing like a tomboy for the entire week? She tried to make her sister see this point but Riku just stated simply, "We're going camping, not to some royal ball."

"For crying out loud, Risa, you won't need this red silk lingerie," Riku said in disgust. Risa sighed in resignation. Not long after, the suitcase was finally shut with the usual ritual of Riku, Risa and the butler stomping the top of the suitcase.

"Hallelujah!" Riku said in mock relief as they were all safely in the limo. The poor butler was still dragging Risa's still bulging suitcase into the boot. "We have to fetch Niwa-kun and Hiwatari-kun later, you know," Riku informed her twin.

Risa nearly spat out the water she had been drinking. Hiwatari-kun was going to be in this limo too! "W-W-What!" spluttered Risa in disbelief. Riku chuckled slyly before nodding with an annoyingly smug grin on her face.

"B-But Hiwatari-kun has his own limo, doesn't he?" blurted our Risa.

"Yes, but he doesn't want his father to know where he's going," replied Riku, still grinning. "What's with that huge smile on your face, Risa?"

Risa didn't realize she had been smiling so widely. Embarrassed, she glared reproachfully at her giggling twin.

Satoshi Hiwatari was seething to himself. Daisuke had _somehow_ managed to bully him into following him and his girlfriend trudging into the wilderness. Don't ask how. It's extremely hard to say no to Daisuke when he glares at you so adorably with his huge red eyes and it's even harder when Daisuke mercilessly adds in an even more adorable pout. Curse the cuteness!

The blue haired genius sighed as he remembered the fateful day he had been cornered into joining the blasted summer camp. It was a sunny day. He was actually enjoying the weather for once. Daisuke was walking home with him as Riku had some sort of extra sports practices.

"Ne, Hiwatari-kun," Daisuke had said.

"Hai?" Satoshi had replied. He cursed himself now for naively replying. He should have known something was up. The red haired boy was fiddling with his fingers nervously. If he hadn't replied, maybe he wouldn't be stuck tagging along to this accursed trip. He should have walked on without a glance backwards.

"Do you have plans for the summer holidays?" Daisuke asked, brightly; very, very brightly. Satoshi could practically see light radiating from his flaming hair and huge eyes.

"No," Satoshi naively replied, not aware he was falling deeper and deeper into a deadly trap of which there was no return.

"Well, then, congratulations! You do now!" Daisuke beamed, even more brightly, if possible.

By now, Satoshi was slightly suspicious. "I do?" his blue eyes narrowed.

"Yep! You're coming with me and Riku for a summer camp in the mountains!" replied Daisuke, cheerfully.

"W-W-What!" spluttered a flabbergasted Satoshi. "No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are," Daisuke said, his huge bright eyes narrowing slightly.

"No, I'm not," Satoshi narrowed his eyes as well.

"Yes, you are," Daisuke's bright red eyes narrowed even more into a slight glare.

"No, I'm not," Satoshi glared as well.

"Yes, you are," Daisuke's glare intensified until he looked endearingly fierce.

"No, I'm not," Satoshi weakened slightly.

"Yes, you are," Daisuke brought in the big guns; he pouted adorably.

"No, I'm not," Satoshi weakened even more. He desperately tried not to look at the pouting Daisuke.

"Yes, you are," Daisuke brought in the _biggest_ guns; the glare _and_ the pout. A very deadly mix.

Too late, Satoshi unwittingly glanced at Daisuke and shattered immediately. He sighed deeply. "Yes, I am."

Daisuke cheered triumphantly. He made Satoshi stay overnight in his house the day before the trip to make sure the sullen blue haired genius would not try to escape. Satoshi refused firmly but Daisuke used the pout/glare technique again. Satoshi sighed. That was one ticket to Africa wasted.

If anything, his stay at the Niwa residence wasn't boring. How Daisuke survived fourteen years in this mad house Satoshi would never know. Emiko was insane! Insane! He had learned the very painful way that the one rule of survival in this house was to _never touch anything_. Touch a portrait and pepper spray would be sprayed eye-level automatically. Brush a wooden banister lightly and fifty shining spears rains down from the ceiling above. So far, the worse ones Satoshi encountered were found in the bathroom. Once when Satoshi was taking a leak, a needle shot up from below and landed dangerously near Satoshi's…..most sensitive part of the body. Then, when Satoshi sank into the bath tub for a bath, the cold porcelain somehow disappeared and the blue haired boy who was in an embarrassing state of undress found himself tumbling down into darkness and landing with a thump in a metal cage.

Then, to his horror, he heard a door opening to the right and Daisuke burst in worriedly. He saw a very naked Satoshi crouched in the metal cage and screamed in the top of his lungs. "MOOOOMMM! I _TOLD_ YOU TO UNDO THOSE TRAPS!"

Afterwards, guess what? _The entire Niwa family came down and saw him in his full naked glory_! The Niwa family! Satoshi had nothing to cover himself with so he sat with his back facing the horrified wide-eyed gaping and incredulous hilarity (in Emiko's case) And without having the sensitivity to hand him some clothes or _at least_ a measly towel to cover his-ah- lower half with, the evil Niwa family had the nerve to unlock the cage and throw the door wide open, expecting Satoshi to march back up to his room, displaying his inadequately undressed body even more! Satoshi was much too proud to ask for a towel from them as Emiko was smirking rather smugly and tauntingly. So, face flushing, he unwillingly trudged upstairs, trying to regain his severely beaten pride and trying to cover as much of his lower half as possible from. He could have sworn he heard a giggle from Emiko. Curse the Niwa residence!

Breakfast the next morning was a strained affair. Daisuke was still furious with his mother; Kosuke and the Daisuke's grandpa were rather embarrassed and slightly amused; Emiko sniggered every time she glanced Satoshi and Satoshi scowled deeply and tried to ignore how hot his face felt.

Now, he and Daisuke were waiting on the porch with their suitcases beside them. Their ride was late. Satoshi scowled his displeasure. He wanted to be as far as possible from this particular house. He was getting deeply paranoid; who knows, maybe the porch he was standing turned out to be a trapdoor leading to a room full of ….leopards perhaps? You'd never know when a certain maniacal mother was involved; a certain maniacal mother who just happens to be Satoshi's family's arch enemy and Satoshi's best friend's mother. Why must the fates be so cruel to him?

Just then, a huge limo came roaring into sight, snapping Satoshi out of his muses. Riku leaped out at once and rushed to greet her blushing boyfriend before greeting Satoshi slightly more formally. Then, someone else stepped out from the limo more gracefully than Riku and turned to greet them. It was none other than Harada Risa. Satoshi's eyes widened. Daisuke never said anything about the younger and more attrac- wait a minute, scratch that, twin.

Risa pouted slightly when she saw Satoshi wore his glasses. He looked so much better without his glasses! Wait a second, why was she thinking about Satoshi Hiwatari like this!

Satoshi frowned slightly when he saw Risa had tied up her hair into a ponytail. She looked sweeter with her shinning hair let down. Hold on, why was he thinking about Harada Risa like this!

Risa spotted the frown on Satoshi's face. "He really doesn't look pleased to see me," she thought, feeling slightly hurt.

Satoshi noticed the pout on Risa's face. "She's not really happy to see me, isn't she?" he thought, feeling slightly more moody.

"Risa and Hiwatari-kun would make a cute couple, won't they?" Riku whispered to Daisuke.

"Yeah, they would," Daisuke agreed, grinning slightly.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you to all the kind souls who reviewed! It really encouraged me to write more because I wasn't really confident in the first chappie. So…thanks! This is the second chapter. Please review and tell me what you think about it –puppy eyes-

"Wow! Look how tall those mountains are!" exclaimed Daisuke, excitedly.

"Yeah! I bet it's really cold up there, don't you think?" Riku said with equal enthusiasm.

"Yep, it would be," agreed Daisuke "But I brought a really warm sweater. I got it from that clothes shop across school. They sell really nice clothes."

"Yeah, the clothes there are nice," agreed Riku "I love that place but I prefer the one down Sakurazaki Lane. More variety."

"That's true! I went there last summer to get some shirts," said Daisuke "I love their hand knitted jumpers."

"Me too!" agreed Riku "The best one is the blue jumper. I love the patterns."

"I agree," agreed Daisuke "I bought the blue jumper last week."

"Gosh, did you? So did I!" exclaimed Riku.

Risa sighed. She was bored. Riku and Daisuke were in their lets-see-how-many-things-we-can-agree-on-just-to-prove-we're-just-the-perfect-couple game. Why can't they disagree on even one freaking thing? One! One was all she asked! Please Kami-sama, when I count to ten, let the first thing I hear would be a disagreement!

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10!

"I think Mariko-san did a great job on the "Love Birds" portrait, didn't he?"

"Yeah! It was so romantic. I felt so dreamy after I saw it."

"Me too! He's really a great artist."

"I agree."

Risa sighed even deeper. It's not that she was jealous. She would probably have been green with envy a few months back when she was obsessed with Dark-san. Now, she matured from oh-my-gosh-that-guy-is-sooo-cute-I'm-sooo-gonna-be-his-girlfriend to a more sensible and mature young lady, if not still slightly childish at times but that just added to her charm. At least, that was what Satoshi Hiwatari was thinking when he studied her glossy brown hair cruelly tied back into a ponytail. Her expressive, deep brown eyes were cloudy with slight fatigue. She was the only girl he knew that could look drowsy and still look adora-wait a minute…what on earth was he thinking? Was his mind manipulated by some evil being into saying such utterly ridiculous and untrue things about Harada-san? Because the real Satoshi Hiwatari would _not_ even have the barest trace of the cuteness and adorableness in the most remote and unused part of his brilliant brain…right?

Yes, that's right, Satoshi Hiwatari is cool, calm and collected while people fumble and stumble over his mere being.

"Hiwatari-kun?"

The cool, calm and collected Satoshi Hiwatari, having been snapped out of his cool, calm and collected thoughts, fumbled slightly. Why was Harada-san calling him? Resisting the urge to stutter like an undignified fool, he said smoothly, "Hai, Harada-san?"

"Do you like bunnies?"

Satoshi's eye twitched slightly. He was interrupted from his cool, calm and collected thoughts to discuss about _bunnies_? The nerve of the girl! Perhaps if she said something like "I believe we're going to drive off a cliff" or "Japan is under attack of vicious terrorists" or even "You're five months pregnant, Hiwatari-kun" Satoshi would be able to spare the girl a few seconds of his precious time. But _bunnies_?

"No, Harada-san. I find bunnies extremely irritating. They're too fluffy and they're practically useless you want your garden ruined and thousands of baby rabbits after a week."

Risa pouted. "Then how about cats?"

"Cats are self-centered and egoistical. They are utterly useless too, unless you want your furniture and your arm decorated with scratch marks."

Risa sweat dropped. "Err….dogs?"

"Dogs are disgustingly dopey and flea-ridden. They're also completely useless unless you want to hear The Howling/Barking/Yapping Orchestra until your head bursts open in the middle of the night, unless you actually enjoy sliding over their puddles of their pee and ending up with a fractured head or unless you actually revere the way those animals slobber over you and ruining your best clothes a minute before an important party."

Risa gave up trying to interest him in pets. Hiwatari-kun seemed to be in an especially bad mood today. But she shall remain vigilant and actually coax a non-sarcastic and non-moody sentence from Hiwatari-kun! Yes! Go Risa!

Satoshi shuddered inwardly. There seemed to be an unholy gleam in Harada-san's eyes.

"Ne, Hiwatari-kun," ventured Risa, a few minutes later.

Satoshi sighed. Was she not going to give him any peace? "Hai, Harada-san."

"Smile for the camera!" –click-

Satoshi blinked. He scowled deeply. "Harada-san, do you know that the camera flash is scientifically proven to cause eye cancer?"

"You're wearing glasses so it would probably reflect the flash," grinned Risa, proud that she was able to think of that. Hah! I'm as smart as you Satoshi Hiwatari! Take that!

"On the contrary, my glasses would magnify the flash, and theoretically increasing my chances of eye cancer."

Risa's jaw dropped. "You're joking….right?"

"Certainly, I am," replied Satoshi smoothly.

Satoshi smiled inwardly, feeling very smug, certain that Risa was feeling extremely stupid now. This should prevent that girl from disturbing him anymore.

To his surprise, she giggled. Satoshi raised his eyebrows curiously. Maybe her simple mind could not comprehend the genius of what he was saying and was now malfunctioning, causing instant insanity?

"What's so funny, Harada-san?"

Risa giggled even more, "You just made a joke, Hiwatari-kun!"

Satoshi's scowled, "Yes, Harada-san, I do believe I did. By all means go and record this awe- inspiringly historic moment. Oh, and by the way, I believe Niwa-kun made a joke a few minutes ago. Don't forget to add that to your record."

Risa, unlike most victims of his sarcastic tongue, was completely immune. She simply tossed her hair and glared at him. She then smiled sweetly and said, "Of course it's a historic moment. The last time the great Satoshi Hiwatari said anything remotely cheerful was about a millennium ago, right?"

"On the contrary, I just made a joke a few seconds ago. Your mathematics are atrocious, Harada-san."

Risa went red with rage. Resist, resist. Although it's admittedly extremely tempting to grab his smug face and smash it against the window. Resist, resist.

Satoshi grinned to himself. Harada-san looked cute when she was angry…..waaiiit. There…see? It is now a fact; some sadistic freak is trying to manipulate him into the terrifying realms of cuteness and fluffiness. Before he would know it, his brain would be filled with nothing but bunnies and puppies and anything freakishly adorable. AIIEE! Anyway, Satoshi had found his newest hobby to occupy himself in throughout this utterly pointless camp: annoy Harada-san until she bursts in rage and hopefully looses her ability to talk and therefore leaving him in peace to his cool, calm and collected self.

The rest of the journey was considerably calm and relaxed. Riku and Daisuke had a very agreeable time together and Risa and Satoshi had a very disagreeable time together. In short, they were all thoroughly enjoying themselves in the limo.

Finally, the limo halted in front of a rather lavishly decorated entrance. Behind the entrance was a steep path leading up a huge mountain nearly covered in thick trees and plants. Risa and Satoshi felt a rush of impending doom. Not because of the extremely wild looking mountain but because the words, "Summer Camp" written on the entrance were formed by huge pink paper hearts. Satoshi could have sworn he heard the butler chuckling as he removed their suitcases from the boot. Daisuke was visibly gulping in apprehension. The butler got into the limo and drove off, leaving the four teens stranded in front of the very pink entrance.

Satoshi sighed. Bravely, he picked up his suitcase and said, 'Shall we go up, then?"

Nodding grimly as if they were about to wage war onto a heavily guarded castle, Riku, Risa and Daisuke picked up their suitcases as well and followed Satoshi up the path( the path was lighted by pink, heart shaped lanterns) The feeling of terrible apprehension was steadily growing as they trudged higher and higher up the mountain.

Risa was having a horrible time. Her suitcase was far heavier than all the other suitcases put together. Very soon, she began to pant loudly as she felt the suitcase dragging her down. Finally, she succumbed to her aching legs and flopped down, twisting her ankle in the process. Risa yelped in pain.

Riku hurried to her side at once. She glanced at her swollen ankle worriedly; it was a nasty sprain. Especially when Risa had to lug a suitcase containing a decade-worth's of clothes, a portable radio, six silk pillows, footwear (including sneakers, sandals, slippers, socks, shoes, boots, high-heels, stockings, loafers, flip-flops and so on), thirty editions of Fashion Monthly, toiletries ( including toothbrush, toothbrush, comb, brush, lipstick, blusher, eye-liner, lip balm, shampoo, conditioner, hair toner, body lotion, daily moisturizing cream, perfume, scented soap, face powder and so on), a walkman, a portable tv, accessories and I'm too lazy to name anymore. Basically, in a nutshell, Risa's suitcase was as heavy as the combined weight of twelve dumbbells.

Daisuke, being the sweet boy he is, offered to carry the suitcase up for her. It is doubtful that he would have offered to do so if he knew how extravagantly packed the suitcase was, judging by the pained and appalled look on his face as he lifted it up. Unfortunately, Risa herself couldn't bear braving the steep mountain path with her swollen ankle. Sighing, Satoshi squatted down and glanced expectantly at Risa. Getting the hint, Risa, blushing slightly, crawled onto Satoshi's back. Satoshi got up with surprising ease. He was surprised how light she was. Not to mention how warm and smooth her skin was and- STOP! Curse the sadistic freak controlling his mind. If he didn't know better, he would have thought Krad was back. But knowing Krad, he would probably have gleefully asked if he could take control and butcher Risa after dong various appalling things to her first instead of merely injecting irrational and untrue thoughts into his head. Satoshi wondered briefly which one he dreaded more: demented, psychotic alter ego or demented, sadistic fiend who is freaking controlling his thoughts!

After nearly a half an hour or long, hard trekking, all of them wondered (rather hopefully) if they had the wrong place. There was no sign of any other human being in this remote mountain. Just as all of them were quite enthusiastically planning to go back down and hitching a ride back to the nearest town, a blur of pink leaped down from a branch in front of them.

Riku and Risa squeaked in surprise. Daisuke and Satoshi merely flinched for a moment and stared curiously at the short middle-aged woman who was wearing bright pink from her cap to her sneakers.

"Hmmm, new arrivals?" she asked, quite unabashed that she had leaped down from a considerable distance in front of four dumbfounded teens as if she had did nothing out of ordinary. They nodded, apparently temporarily loosing their ability to speak from shock.

"HAZUKA-OBAACHAN!" screamed Daisuke, face full of shock…and was that horror and fear in those huge red eyes?

The woman scowled. "Yes, Dai-chan. I am _not_ old and you _will_ refer me as Hazuka-_san _or Hazuka-_oniichan_," she growled threateningly. Suddenly the tiny woman no taller than a ten year old seemed as scary as Emiko in her lets-see-how-many-traps-Dai-chan-can-go-through-before-he-finally-dies-of-exhaustion moods.

"Hai, Hazuka-san," replied all four teens in unison. All of them were sweating profusely.

"That's right!" beamed Hazuka, her big eyes switching from maniacal murderous gleaming to sweet and cute sparkling. She skipped up the path, gesturing for the others to follow her.

"You know her?" Satoshi whispered quietly to Daisuke. The twins leaned over to listen as well.

"Sort of," Daisuke grinned in a wobbly manner. "She's my mother's best friend since elementary school"

Satoshi nodded sympathetically. He could only imagine what sort of person 'Hazuka-san' must be to be able to actually survive being Emiko's best friend since a decade ago and actually enjoy her company nonetheless.

"She was the one who thought of the idea of turning the bathtub into a trapdoor," Daisuke sighed. Riku and Risa didn't know why both boys shuddered in unison after Daisuke made that statement.

"Hazuka-obaachan and my mom spend their time together plotting various creative traps for my 'training'," continued Daisuke, darkly. He shivered inwardly when he recalled all the times Hazuka and Emiko giggling in a rather terrifying manner after brewing up yet another 'vigorous training exercise' for 'Dai-chan'. The evil gleam in their eyes even managed to unnerve Daisuke's father into crouching behind the umbrella stand once, where he discovered rather painfully his wife had rigged a trap in that particular area. I won't say what kind of trap it was but it can safely be said that Kosuke had developed a huge phobia towards pink umbrellas after that incident.

Satoshi groaned. One Emiko was bad enough. Two Emikos with the equal level of evilness and sadistic tendencies working together could easily cause the end of the world. He briefly wondered how Daisuke managed to stay alive under the evil reign of his mother and her best friend.

Soon enough, they reached a campsite which seemed as pink as Hazuka herself. Risa nearly cried in relief when she saw that they weren't going to crouch in stuffy tents. But, then again, she nearly cried in horror when she found out where they _would_ stay in: an old mansion which looked as if it had been uninhabited for the past century or something, judging by the horrible condition the house was in.

A group of teens had congregated in front of the mansion already. They didn't look too happy either. Risa, Riku, Daisuke and Satoshi hurried to join them. Hazuka climbed up a stump so everyone could see her short being.

"Hi, everyone! My name is Hazuka-_san_ and I would be your camp instructor during this camp. Yaaay!"

None of the teens joined in Hazuka's enthusiasm. On the contrary, they groaned silently in unison. Hazuka didn't seem to be unfazed at their lack of response. She continued brightly as if she had been cheered and applauded.

"Now, the theme of this camp is: 'Rebuilding and Repairing Your Relationship with Your Lover'. Now-"

Her speech was interrupted by the screams and yells of revulsion and horror from her sullen audience.

"WHAT THE F-"

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO US!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"AAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"YOU WILL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE! YOU HEAR? NEVER!"

Hazuka twitched violently in annoyance before screaming back, "SHUT THE HELL UP BEFORE I DECIDE TO CHANGE THE THEME INTO "VARIOUS WAYS TO 'PLEASE' YOUR LOVER" INSTEAD!"

That threat effectively killed all protests from the terrified audience. Hazuka smiled sweetly as if she wasn't screaming her lungs out a nanosecond ago.

"That's right! Good children," she chirped in a cheerful manner "I will now divide you into teams consisting of one boy and one girl. I randomly picked out your partners but if you already have your girlfriend or boyfriend here, you two will be automatically put into the same team."

"First: Harada Riku and Niwa Daisuke!"

Both of them blushed and sighed in relief in the same time. Risa bit her lip anxiously. Who would they pair her up with? She didn't have a boyfriend here! She glanced at Satoshi. He wasn't looking too happy either, judging how pale he was and the way he was sweating even though it quite chilly in the mountain.

Satoshi gritted his teeth. Emiko knew about this. He was positive about it. After all, Daisuke had told him that his mother was the one who had the idea of signing them up for this dratted summer camp in the first place. Maybe Hazuka and Emiko weren't content of only terrorizing Daisuke and they wanted to try out their sadistic plans on other innocent, oblivious teens too. Maybe they planned this whole camp just to see the looks of horror on their faces!

The list of couples went on and on. Some of them sighed in relief, others howled in disgust. Satoshi was trying to look indifferent as possible. He was failing though; eye twitching and sweating nervously wasn't exactly a picture of indifference.

"Next: Harada Risa and Satoshi Hiwatari!"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?" screamed Risa.

"YOU HAVE _GOT_ TO BE JOKING!" yelled Satoshi, abandoning his 'cool and calm' mode in his colossal shock.

"No, I'm not," replied Hazuka, grinning "The way you carried Harada-san on your back when she twisted her ankle was so sweet, Hiwatari-kun!"

"I _had_ to. Niwa was already carrying her suitcase for her and you don't expect me to let the elder Harada-san carry her, do you?" retorted Satoshi.

"How gentlemanly," tittered Hazuka "You wouldn't let Riku-chan carry Risa- chan because you were worried Riku-chan wouldn't be strong enough. That shows your protective instinct towards Risa-chan, does it not?"

A vein popped in Satoshi's forehead. "I carried Niwa-kun on my back too when he broke his right leg during football practice once."

A sudden hush fell upon the assembled group. Everyone was gaping at Satoshi. It took the poor bewildered boy ten seconds to realize what he had just implied.

Satoshi's eyes widened in horror and he screamed, "I DIDN'T MEAN IT _THAT_ WAY, YOU PERVERTED FOOLS!"

Hazuka batted her eyelashes innocently and asked, "What on earth are you talking about, Hiwatari-kun? _We_ didn't say anything. Why on earth are you being so defensive about it?"

Satoshi shook in rage and embarrassment. He realized he was wrong when he said Emiko and Hazuka were equally evil and sadistic. Satoshi concluded that Hazuka was ten times more evil and sadistic than Emiko would ever be.

Oh yeah, this week was going to be a living hell.


	3. Chapter 3

HI! I'm baaaack! Thanks so much to those who reviewed my previous chapters! Sighs, I can never think of anything remotely creative to say in my writer's muse…so...on with the story!

Satoshi drew in a deep breath before flinging open the door of his new 'dorm'. The dorm itself wasn't what Satoshi was so apprehensive about. It was his new _dorm mate_. Guess who dear, sweet Hazuka paired him up with?

"EEEEEKKKKKK! HIWATARI-KUN! THERE'S A SPIDER! AND ANOTHER! AND ANOTHER! AND _ANOTHER_! HEEELLPPPP!"

Satoshi sighs and wondered what on earth he had done in the past to make him deserve this sort of torment. The manor itself was giving him the creeps. Apart from all the dust and cobwebs, he had a nasty, prickling feeling that he had been there before. Those old faded portraits of fat men in tights actually look slightly _familiar_.

"Harada-san, spiders really are fascinating creatures," Satoshi picked up a spider with ease and dangled it in Risa's disgusted and horrified face.

"No they are NOT," shrieked Risa. "Spiders are vile, disgusting, dirty, revolting, repulsive, horrendous, foul, unbearable, filthy, despicable, appalling, dreadful, sickening _things_!"

Satoshi was mildly impressed with her vocabulary. It seems Harada Risa, air head-extraordinaire, read more than gossip magazines after all.

Risa must have somehow guessed what Satoshi was musing, because she sent him a dark look and scowled, "I'm not a complete simpleton, Satoshi Hiwatari. In fact, I'm currently reading 'Pride and Prejudice.' Shocked?"

Well, she _did_ read the summary at the back of the book. It's not a complete lie!

"I find the fact that you _could _read all the more shocking, Harada-san," Satoshi replied, smirking.

He had to duck to avoid a very, very well-aimed shoe.

Risa was seething in rage. How dare he look down on her like that! He was so-so-so-so-so- See? He was such a big-headed creep that even words fail to describe him!

Ok, girl. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Good, the urge to kill was gradually reducing. Very, very, very gradually…but reducing all the same…that's a start…now if that moron would shut up she may even calm down enough to reach a state where she didn't even have the urge to break his arms and legs, which was still a looong way from here.

"Tsk, tsk, you react with needless and uncalled for violence just because you can't come up with a smart reply. Typical childish behavior," Satoshi continued, eyes twinkling mischievously. He was obviously enjoying himself.

Urge to kill rising rapidly…..which was more painful she wondered: smashing his head into the glass window or just simply throwing him _out_ of the window? Their room _was_ thirty feet above hard, solid ground.

Oh, the heck with it. She'd just smash his head against the window _and then_ throw him out of the window.

Satoshi Hiwatari may be cocky, big-headed, smug or whatever adjectives Risa would have under the Satoshi Column in her mental dictionary, but he was certainly no fool. He recognized the murderous glint in Risa's big, brown eyes and oddly enough, it scared him ten times more than Krad in his lets-see-how-many-people-we-can-kill-if-you-let-me-take-over-your-body mode.

Satoshi gave a nervous cough and retreated to the door. "Well, we'd better go. Hazuka-_san_ did say we had to meet in the 'Conference Hall,' wherever that is," he stated before opening the door and stalking away with a trace of franticness in his graceful movements.

And no, he was _not_ being a coward. Certain battles are won by retreating.

"Okay, kids!" announced a very bubbly Hazuka to a sea of sullen teenagers "Are you ready for your first task?"

Only a stony silence floated back at her.

"I'll take that as a yes," she beamed, unfazed by the lack of response.

"Now, each day, we would have a task for you and your partner to complete together,' she continued "The winning couple of each task would be given a point. The couple with the most points at the end of the week wins a surprise gift!"

Satoshi groaned into his hands.

"Do you want to know today's task?" Hazuka asked. Really, the capability of this tiny woman to be so ignorantly oblivious of the poisonous glares each camper was blazing at her was truly extraordinary.

"Since you all are _so _thrilled about this camp I decided to start with something easy, so you won't wear yourselves out in excitement on your first day," beamed the tiny woman.

Satoshi had come to the conclusion that Hazuka was either a master of sarcasm or just plain, obliviously stupid because each and every camper here were the very picture of the total _opposite_ of excitement.

"-cooking!"

Finally, a response from the stony audience: "WHAAAAAAT?"

"Yes, you heard me: cooking!" Hazuka grinned widely "Each couple would have to cook, bake, grill, fry, boil, roast or even _burn _an article of anything edible. Be it pastry or stew or rice; just make it as creative as possible! The couple who whips up the most delicious meal wins this task!"

Satoshi had the sudden urge to bang his head on something hard. Brilliant, he was stuck cooking with a girl who was known to set the cooking room on fire multiple times over tasks like _toasting bread_.

"Yes, I _knew_ you all would be excited!" Hazuka giggled in delight. "I can see you can't _wait_ to start cooking so I'll bring you to your respective cooking quarters now! Excited?"

"Be still, my beating heart," Satoshi mumbled darkly.

Satoshi and Risa gaped in awe. Both of them were brought to a kitchen that resembled something a famous, overpaid French chef would pose on television in.

"Right! So here's your kitchen," Hazuka gestured cheerfully "All the utensils you could possible need and all the ingredients you could possible want!"

Satoshi, who had been inspecting the huge variety of ingredients on a counter, frowned and asked, "Um, did I misread the label or is that a packet of brownish powder 'grounded cockroach gut'?"

"Those roaches we cleared out for your stay had to go _somewhere_," Hazuka shrugged, nonchalantly. "So if you excuse me, I have to show the other couples to _their _kitchens."

Satoshi merely grunted while Risa managed a feeble smile.

Before leaving, Hazuka winked at Risa, "The fastest way to a man's heart is through is stomach."

"Not if the food kills the man before reaching his heart," Satoshi muttered darkly under his breath, remembering Harada Risa's culinary skills.

He personally found out 0.2 seconds later that a flour bag makes quite a good concussion-inducing weapon with deadly accuracy.

…………………………

"So," Satoshi sighed in resignation "What do you think we should make?"

"Chocolate cake," Risa replied, without missing a beat.

Satoshi blinked slightly, slightly taken aback at her quick reply. Well…someone's been thinking hard…

"I _like_ chocolate cake," Risa added, hurriedly.

"Okay…." Satoshi raised an eyebrow and stared dejectedly at the pile of ingredients "Might as well get started."

Risa nodded slightly. The tense, awkward atmosphere in the kitchen was nearly suffocating. Satoshi was digging through the refrigerator and Risa just stood there, unsure of what to do. To her, a kitchen was an unknown and hostile territory.

"Harada-san, could you beat the eggs?" Satoshi asked, handing a few eggs to her "I'll go see if I can borrow some milk from the other kitchens. The milk we have in here expired nine years ago."

Risa scrunched up her nose and took the eggs as carefully as if they were unpinned grenades on the verge of explosion.

Satoshi glanced at her shrewdly, "You _do _know how to beat eggs, don't you?"

Risa's pride won over her common sense. "Of _course_ I do," she snapped back, bristled.

Oops… touched a nerve there. Satoshi shook his head and said, "Just crack the eggs into that bowl and beat the yolk with a fork."

"I _know_," replied Risa, coldly as she coolly picked up a blue bowl and a fork from a drawer.

"Well, if you say so," Satoshi looked doubtful but he shrugged and walked out to get the milk. He really, really hoped the kitchen would still be intact when he came back. Maybe he'd be lucky and only half of this kitchen would catch fire.

As soon as Satoshi left the kitchen, Risa's cold façade dropped. She stared helplessly at the eggs and the bowl and the fork. What was she going to do? She'd never beaten eggs before! Well, _actually_, they _had_ been taught how to beat eggs from cooking class last term. The result of that particularly memorable lesson was the headmaster making Risa sign a document swearing that she would never go within five feet of an egg within the school grounds ever again.

"What am I going to do?" Risa panicked aloud. She picked up an egg gingerly and studied it as closely as a scientist would to a new found chemical substance. Her delicate hands shook and she hastily placed the egg onto the table before it ended up smashed on the brightly polished floor.

Risa breathed deeply. Right, now don't panic…don't panic…remember what Hiwatari-kun said? He said to _beat the yolk_. In order to _beat the yolk_, she had to _get_ the yolk _out_ of the egg and into the bowl. Therefore, the method as to how to get the yolk out was the unknown. The particular method shall hence forth be known as _Y_.

Brilliant…. Algebra and Cooking. The two things Harada Risa despised most in the world.

Risa frowned thoughtfully. Let's work this out slowly…

Yolk plus Bowl equals the method as to how to get the yolk out of the egg and into the bowl.

Therefore, Yolk plus Bowl equals the unknown, that it, Y.

Gaaaarrrrggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Risa shook her head violently. She always got stuck on that part! There _must _be something she's missing! A trick question. A question within a question….a riddle within a riddle…

Risa studied the egg again. What was she missing…of course!

Yolk plus _Shell_ equals an egg! She completely forgot about the shell part. Now, with this new found discovery, she would proceed with the equitation!

So….. Yolk plus Shell equals Egg.

Therefore Egg minus Shell is Yolk.

Hence, Y equals Get Rid of the Shell!

YES! Harada Risa, you are a genius! Screw Satoshi Hiwatari! I'm waaay smarter! Risa did a slight victory dance around the counter.

Risa happily set off to do her task. Hah! She'd show Satoshi Hiwatari that he was wrong! That she _could _cook! She'd show that big-headed, cocky, egoistical, arrogant-

Somewhere along the corridor, Satoshi sneezed. He rubbed his nose. Hmm, he was getting sick….must be from all the stress that annoying girl was making him go through.

Risa sneezed.

Satoshi apprehensively walked towards the kitchen, clutching a jug of milk he had gotten from Daisuke and Riku. He cautiously paused at the door. Hmm, no burning smells….a good sign. No panicky shrieking either…a _very_ good sign.

Maybe, just maybe…against all odds…the kitchen actually _survived_ the legendary Harada Risa _unsupervised _for ten full minutes?

Nah…this was probably the wrong kitchen.

Just to make sure, as Satoshi reminded himself, he peeped into the kitchen. Just to make sure of course.

Le gasp! It _was _their kitchen! And still standing! Not even a broken plate! Just who was this girl and what did she do with the _real _Harada Risa?

Satoshi gave a subtle start of surprise when the girl in question turned her head to glance at him curiously. Well, crouching in a stealth-ninja mode in front of a kitchen _does _seem kind of strange, especially if you have a milk jug in hand…_especially _if the milk jug in question was held out like a kunai.

No wait, it's definitely Harada Risa….no one else has a big, deep honey-brown eye that lit up adorably like that.

Gaaaarrghhhh! Satoshi mentally banged his head. I _mean_ no one else looks that annoying, childish and whiny. Yep! That's right!

"Hiwatari-kun?" Risa said, uncertainly. He was spacing off…odd.

"Harada-san, I've got the milk," Satoshi replied, calmly sliding on his expressionless mask.

Risa sighed; the Master of the Emotionless was back again. And she thought he was finally opening up a little.

"Thank you," Risa tried to smile as she took the jug from him. Satoshi impassively nodded and turned to inspect the eggs. Risa crossed her fingers. Please, Kami-sama, just this once, let the smug jerk actually run out of sarcastic comments to use…if that's even possible…but please try…even if You have to make him loose his voice in order to do so….

"Harada-san-"

"Hai!" Risa hurriedly replied, flustered. She tried her best not to wring her hands in agitation.

"-you _do _know that I said to 'crack the eggs' not 'smash the eggs', right?"

Darn it all! It's that infuriatingly, smug sarcastic tone again! Risa gritted her teeth and braced herself, "_Yes_, I do."

"Then please explain why I see huge bits of shell in the yolk,"

"So? Won't the shells dissolve in the yolk or have some chemical reaction or something?"

Risa flushed at the impatient look Satoshi was giving her.

"If the yolk dissolves the shell, then won't eggs dissolve from the inside?" Satoshi raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know! Do I look like some Agricultural Biologist or something?" Risa threw up her hands in exasperation.

"Quite frankly, judging from you IQ, no," Satoshi smirked in reply.

Oh, the temptation to hurl the mess of yolk and shells at that smug face was overwhelming.

"You simply flung those eggs into the bowl, didn't you?" Satoshi asked, shrewdly.

"So what?" Risa snapped, defensively "It broke the shell, didn't it?"

"And scattered bits of shell all over the yolk, yes,"

"Fine!" Risa threw up her hands "I'm an ignorant, brainless, dense imbecile who doesn't know the first thing about cooking! Happy?"

"You forgot the stubborn part, but yes, more or less," Satoshi shrugged carelessly.

Risa glared darkly at the blue haired genius, "I swear if you make anymore smart comments your blue hair would _somehow_ turn yellow and decoratively sprinkled with egg shells."

Satoshi ventured deeper into the tiger's den, "See? Once again you react with childish violence when your brain is incapable of finding a smart reply."

Risa merely picked up the bowl and held it out threateningly. The hostile message couldn't be any clearer.

Whereupon Satoshi decided that any form of violence coming from an annoyed Harada Risa, even the childish kind, was not to be encouraged if one valued his life.

He coughed, "Alright, fine. I'll beat the eggs and preheat the oven. You can mix up all the other ingredients in another bowl. All you have to do is follow that recipe book on the table."

Risa stared doubtfully at the pile of ingredients on the counter.

"Unless of course, I was right about the fact that you couldn't read, Harada-san,"

That did it. Risa straightened up and pursed her lips. She strode purposefully towards the counter and tore open the recipe book. She then methodically started to mix the ingredients according to instructions of the 'Chocolate Cake' page.

Satoshi smiled slightly in amusement. Ah, people really underestimate the power of reverse psychology.

For a while, a peacefully comfortable, busy sort of silence descended upon the kitchen. Neither tried to start any awkward conversation. They just concentrated instead on the tasks at hand. Strangely, they felt completely at ease and comfortable in each other's silent company, though neither would admit it if their life depended on it.

"Hiwatari-kun? Where's the cocoa powder?" Risa frantically dug through the sea of packets and cartons "I can't find it!"

"It's bound to be in there _somewhere_," Satoshi impatiently measured the flour. Risa glared at the oh-so-helpful blue haired genius. She gallantly dug through more and more packets and bags until….

"Found it!" Risa announced, triumphantly holding up a brown packet. She carefully measured the amount she needed and poured it into the mixture.

Satoshi rolled his eyes and added the sugar. He stared in satisfaction at the mixture, "Looks almost done. I think we can put this into the oven now."

"Oooh! Can I do it?" Risa asked, her eyes dancing in excitement. Satoshi took one look at her hopeful face and caved in. After all, all she had to do was pop the mixture into the oven. What can possibly go wrong?

"Alright," Satoshi nodded, curtly "I'll clean up the mess and you can put the mixture into the oven. I've already set the timer."

Risa squealed in excitement. Satoshi shook his head and turned his head away, smiling slightly in amusement.

Satoshi set off to work, washing and cleaning. He frowned at the yolk stains all over the table, the walls and the floor. Apparently, Risa took his order to 'beat the eggs' very literally indeed. Sighs…

After the kitchen was more or less spotless again (Satoshi gave up on trying to scrub the yolk stains that somehow ended up on the _ceiling_), he stretched languidly and discreetly observed Risa through the corner of his eyes.

She was staring at the oven, face bunched up in concentration. A graceful hand impatiently brushed a lock of soft, honey brown hair out of her face. Satoshi felt odd. He shook his head, trying to sort out his jumbled thoughts.

What made Harada Risa so different from other girls? What was it that made him squirm with an unidentified feeling whenever she smiled? What was it that made him want to protect her with every fiber of his being?

"Hiwatari-kun?" Satoshi snapped out of his reverie.

"Yes, Harada-san?" he replied, turning towards her.

Risa bit her lip and pointed, "The cake just won't rise and it's been in the oven for nearly an hour. What's wrong?"

Satoshi was mildly thrown back. What, it was nearly an hour already?

Nonetheless, he turned to inspect the oven. He groaned under his breath. It didn't take Einstein to figure out what's wrong.

"It should be done by now, according to the recipe. What's wrong? Why won't it rise?" Risa asked, anxiously.

Satoshi sighed, "I have a sneaking suspicion that it has something to do with the fact that you left to oven door open, Harada-san."

Realization dawned at last. Risa's face fell in dismay. Why did she forget something so simple? A ten year old wouldn't make a stupid mistake like that! She bent her head, avoiding Satoshi's cool, blue eyes.

"Harada-san-"

"I KNOW!" Risa burst out; fist clenched "I KNOW I'm useless in the kitchen. I KNOW I don't know the first thing about cooking. I KNOW I'm a _stubborn, _idiot who wrecks any kitchen she steps into. I KNOW. You don't _have _to remind me about that _over and over_ and _over _again, Hiwatari! I KNOW!"

Satoshi gazed speechless at a trembling Harada Risa. Her face was hidden in a curtain of brown hair but it didn't take a behavioral psychologist to figure out she was upset.

"Harada-san-" Satoshi's mouth had gone dry.

Risa glared as she glanced up at him. Satoshi went numb. _She was crying_. He uncertainly reached out with his hand but Risa slapped it away roughly and stormed out of the kitchen, wiping her face furiously.

Satoshi just stood there, not knowing what to do. He could deal with a sulking, a pouting, a sarcastic or even an enraged Harada Risa but crying? He was at loss, not knowing how to react, what to say or what to do. Consoling a crying person was to him like cooking was to Risa.

But what bothered him more was…why _was_ she crying in the first place? Did he do something wrong? Did his sarcastic remarks go too far? But...usually Risa countered his remarks with equal acidity.

Did...Did _he_ make her cry?

That thought alone made his heart squeeze strangely.

Risa walked aimlessly, not knowing where the route was taking her. But as long as it took her farther away from that jerk it was good enough for her. She breathed in deeply, trying to calm herself. She felt like an idiot for breaking down and crying like an idiot, exposing how weak she really was…to Satoshi Hiwatari of all people!

The manor Hazuka chose for the camp could be only described in a single word: Vast. There were hundreds upon hundreds of different rooms including bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, halls, ballrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, lounges and many more. Corridors and hallways twisted and turned to form a very complicated labyrinth that could challenge the biggest pyramids in Egypt.

Risa walked and walked and walked, not knowing or caring where she was going. She slowly walked up a twisting, beautifully carved spiral staircase. At the top, Risa found herself on some sort of huge open-aired veranda. It was so pretty. Flowers and trees grew everywhere in a very wild fashion that made the place look like a miniature forest.

A very good place for someone who wanted to be alone for a while.

She slowly sat on a creaking swing hanging from a tree branch and stared blankly at the bubbling fountain. She sighed slightly; he really didn't remember did he?

It was only about a month ago…..

_Risa slowly sat down on the cool grass, fighting back tears. Dark-san……he left her again…and this time, he'd never come back. _

_She glanced up and stared at the sky. It was getting dark, Riku would be worried. Risa was trying her best to be strong during the day, when people were around. She smiled and laughed during the day, not wanting to act like a brat and make people worry. She tried hard to hide how hurt she was. It was at night, when she was alone, that she could finally take a rest and drop her happy mask. She went out every night just to stare at the sky._

_The night sky always reminded her of Dark-san. It gave her hope somehow…… that a part of the great Phantom Thief was still there, as the dark sky was always his signature. And maybe, just maybe…..she would see those dark wings in the sky again. _

_Dark-san was a bit like the night sky himself. Mysterious and deep and unfathomable but lighted up with dots of brightness and playful cheekiness._

_She knew Riku worried endlessly about her. She felt bad about that. She'd never had gotten through this if it wasn't for her twin. _

"_Harada-san, is that you?" a voice interrupted her musings. Risa scowled slightly. Wonderful…..just the person she wanted to see when she was in this state…_

"_Hiwatari-kun. Good evening," Risa greeted, icily. Maybe he'd get the hint and scram._

"_Good evening? Good night, more like," Satoshi raised his eyebrows "It's getting late. Shouldn't you be at home by now?"_

"_That's none of your business," she replied, huffily, trying to hide her red eyes._

_Satoshi didn't answer the less-than-polite retort. He merely sat down quietly on the patch of grass beside her._

"_What are you doing here?" Risa scowled; peeved at having her privacy and peace intruded "Can't you sit somewhere else?"_

"_That's none of your business," he replied, smirking slightly. Risa huffed and stared back at the sky, pointedly ignoring the blue haired boy beside her. _

_To her surprise, Satoshi didn't attempt to strike up any sort of conversation. He just sat there, staring at the sky with her. _

_Risa felt oddly…comforted; comforted by the fact that someone else had knew and encountered the great Phantom Thief personally. Granted, Satoshi 'knew and encountered' the great Phantom Thief by trying to hunt him down with every fiber of his being…but still…at least to Satoshi, Dark wasn't just another slick, good-looking villain and a local celebrity icon. _

"_Harada-san,"_

_Risa looked up curiously._

"_Have some chocolate cake,"_

_She blinked. She had been expecting some sagely advice or even a sarcastic reprimand for staying out like this…but chocolate cake? She stared dumbfounded at the box of cake Satoshi was holding out to her._

"_Huh?" Risa smacked herself inwardly. Real smooth and sophisticated, Harada….. _

"_Chocolate cake," Satoshi repeated, patiently "Niwa gave it to me from his mother. Said I wasn't getting proper nutrition or something."_

"_Thanks," Risa surprised herself by reaching out and taking a piece. They sat there, sharing a sticky chocolate cake in comfortable silence on a grassy field until every crumb was devoured. Satoshi offered to walk her home but she declined, dreading what teasings Riku would have in store for her if she saw them walking home together. _

_Oddly enough, the cake did better to her than any sagely advice or sarcastic reprimand would have because since that night, she never felt the need to stare at the night sky again._

Risa snapped out of her thoughts and slowly swung back and forth. The swing was making suspicious creaking noises under her weight. She stared anxiously at the frayed strings holding up the swing. She wasn't that fat, was she?

Then suddenly, at the corner of her eyes, she spotted something carved crudely into the tree in which the swing hung from. Curious, she stood up and walked nearer towards the tree.

_Hikari Satoshi._

Risa stumbled slightly as her eyes widened. She read and reread those words over and over again until she was pretty sure she memorized every stroke and line. But she still couldn't believe her eyes. Hikari Satoshi? She knew about him being a Hikari. Daisuke explained the whole adopted-by-Hiwatari thingy…but this was too weird.

Why was Hiwatari-kun's name carved on the bark of a tree in an abandoned manor?

Does this mean someone who knew about him lived here once and carved his name into this tree for some unknown reason?

Or…does this mean that Satoshi Hiwatari himself was here at one point?

Risa's head swam. What does this all mean? She took in a deep breath, trying to slow down her rushing torrents of thoughts. Come to think of it, Hiwatari-kun never revealed how he ended up with a foster father in the first place. What happened to his real parents? How did he end up as an….orphan?

Fists clenched, Risa stormed out of the veranda and down the spiral stairs. She stomped down the hallways, her determination somehow subconsciously guiding her back to the kitchen. She hardly noticed the twists or turns and only focused on going forward.

She needed answers, damnit! Answers from that quiet, mysterious rock known to the world as the unreadable, expressionless Hiwatari Satoshi. There has to be a small part of human in him….there _has_ to be; a part of him that cares, a part of him that longs to be cared for. If anyone was going to force it out of that stubborn fool, it was going to be her, Harada Risa!

She stormed abruptly into the kitchen, fully intending to force every bit of information out of Satoshi even if she had to tie him to the chair and threaten to do _more _cooking…..with him still tied in the kitchen with her. It was a threat that normally worked with Riku and all her other classmates who painfully experienced Harada Risa in action in a defenseless kitchen. Many of them even started bets on how long it would take in each cooking lesson for Risa to set something on fire. The smart money was on fifty seconds.

Then, she halted, her eyes wide and mouth agape. She stared, gaping in shock. She had completely forgotten about the whole incident in the veranda in the face of the jaw- dropping picture that greeted her in the kitchen.

Hiwatari Satoshi was actually _eating _the pathetic, grotesque lump of brown mush and flour that was _suppose _to be a chocolate cake….a chocolate cake that she had absolutely _ruined. _

Putting it mildly, Risa wouldn't actually call that _eating_. The blue haired boy was practically forcing every bit down his throat with a very strained look on his face. Risa still gaped blankly. Why on earth is he risking his health…and probably his _life…. _on this utterly suicidal attempt to eat Harada Risa's infamous cooking?

"H-Harada-san?" Satoshi choked, still gulping down a piece of disgusting looking brown mess.

"…..Hai?" Risa's deep brown eyes still wide with shock. Nonetheless, she braced herself for a torrent of sarcastic critiques.

"This cake tastes….good,"

Risa's eyes, if possible, widened even more. She stared with incredulous shock at the blue haired genius. Who was he kidding? The strain and wince on his pale face was visible, even at a distance! Does the cake somehow contain some sort of radioactive chemical or something that severely damaged his brain?

Or…was he being sarcastic again? Risa's eyes narrowed suspiciously as she strode towards him.

"It-It really _is _very good," Satoshi repeated, unsuccessfully trying to stifle the sickly green pallor from rising to his pale cheeks "Very, _very _good."

Risa gawked, stupefied. She could sense no form of mockery or sarcasm in his tone...and…his normally icy blue eyes held faint signs of awkwardness and…..anxiety? He wasn't trying to-to _apologize_, was he?

Comprehension dawned at last. Risa's eyes softened as she beamed at him. "Thanks," she said at last, smiling widely.

It was funny how a single word can put everything right. Satoshi felt a whole weight had been lifted off his shoulders at the mention of that one expression of gratitude. He managed a slight smile at the beaming girl.

His stomach lurched suddenly. Caught off guard, he fell against the counter with a loud crash followed by many, many loud thumps and bangs. He wobbly stood up, staring in dismay at the mess of packets and packages strewn all over the floor. He heard an exclamation of horror as Risa covered her mouth and hurried over to him, anxiously.

His stomach lurched violently again and he fought not to throw up there and then. Swallowing the bitter bile back into his throat, Satoshi stumbled wildly into the toilet conveniently next to their kitchen. He shut the door and a second later, loud sounds of violent retching could be heard from the toilet.

Risa winced slightly and she hesitantly called out, "You okay in there, Hiwatari-kun?"

Only the sounds of chocked gagging replied her question. Risa sighed, feeling slightly guilty. Even if Satoshi _was_ trying to be nice and all, it was still partly her fault he was vomiting his stomach out.

Eyes straying to the mountain of mess on the kitchen floor, Risa bent down and picked up a few fallen packets and dumped them back on the counter. She bent down to pick up two more packets and as she deposited them on the table, her eyes widened.

One brown packet was still completely full and still sealed. The label read 'Cocoa Powder'.

The other brown packet was ripped open and half empty. The label read 'Grounded Cockroach Gut'.

Risa glanced in horror from the two packets to the half eaten 'chocolate' cake, and finally to the toilet in which was still emitting disturbingly loud retching sounds.

"You-You sure you're alright, Hiwatari-kun?" Risa called out nervously again.

"I'm –uurrrrppppp- I'm fine! Seriously –blooorrrrrpppp- your cake was great! R- lllleeeeerrrghhh- Really! So- gleerrrrpppppp- cheer up- oorrrrrghhhh- okay?" a barely comprehensible speech floated from the toilet.

Risa stared disbelievingly at the toilet. Then slowly, she smiled softly at the half eaten cake and blushed slightly, "That idiot…."

It was twice now that chocolate cake made everything better.

"Aaand the winners for the cooking task are……Niwa Daisuke and Harada Riku!" Hazuka announced proudly on the platform. The audience didn't exactly go wild, but they cheered and clapped politely nonetheless. Many of them were covered in flour, sugar and in one odd case, egg shells. Risa felt somewhat comforted that she wasn't the only one at war with eggs and egg shells.

Satoshi had stopped vomiting after half an hour of vomiting his stomach out. His face was somewhat pale and clammy but he was getting along fine. He assured a very disbelieving and skeptical Harada Risa that her cake had nothing to do with it and it was probably caused by Niwa Emiko poisoning his breakfast that morning. He cheered and congratulated a blushing Daisuke and a beaming Riku.

After a surprisingly good dinner, Hazuka dismissed all of them back to their dorms, claiming that they would need a lot of rest for the task she prepared for them tomorrow in an overly cheerful manner that unnerved everyone. What on earth was this diminutive woman planning tomorrow?

As everyone stood up and headed out of the dining hall, Daisuke pulled Satoshi aside.

"Well, did you survive?" Daisuke whispered, furtively.

"Survive?" Satoshi repeated, blankly. Daisuke's huge red eyes were screwed up anxiously.

"You know…… Risa's cooking," Daisuke hissed, shuddering visibly and looking sincerely afraid for Satoshi's life.

"Oh, just barely," Satoshi grimaced, slightly. Never again would he look at a chocolate cake in the eye.

Daisuke chuckled nervously, "At least you're still standing. I guess this means her cooking improved a lot since the time she made me sample the food she made for Dark."

Satoshi stared in mock disbelief. What? Harada Risa's cooking could actually get even worse?

"Anyway, I'm glad you were nice about it," Daisuke interrupted his thoughts. Satoshi raised an eyebrow.

"How'd you know if I was nice about it or not?" he asked, curiously.

Daisuke grinned widely, "Didn't you notice? She was smiling softly to herself throughout the entire meal."

Satoshi's blue eyes widened slightly in surprise and quickly tried to cover it up by raising an eyebrow and trying to look bored, "Really? Frankly I couldn't care less what, when or why that empty headed girl smiles like an idiot to herself. For all I know, it's probably because the nearest mall has a big sale or something."

Daisuke opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by a call from his dearly beloved, also known as Harada Riku.

"Niwa-kun! Let's go back to our dorm!" she called "Goodnight, Hiwatari-kun!"

Before dashing off to Riku, Daisuke mouthed, "Good luck," and winked roguishly.

Satoshi stood there, unsure of so many things. For example, what on earth did Daisuke mean by the wink and the 'good luck'? And more importantly, why the heck was there a colossal blush on his, the great cool and calm Hiwatari Satoshi, face?

Shaking his head slightly to clear his thoughts, Satoshi walked back up to his dorm. It surprised and unnerved him how familiar this manor was to him. It was like he knew and recognized all the twisting hallways and corridors, all the dusty ornaments and portraits, all the grand, grimy furniture. He didn't like it, not at all. He tried and tried to remember when he had been here before but it was as if something was blocking his memory, or more specifically, his memory of this manor.

In the dorm, Risa was sitting on the huge, comfortable window seat. She stared out of the dusty window, thinking hard about her discovery on the veranda. Having a feeling that Hiwatari Satoshi hated having his privacy invaded, she decided not to press him for information. No….she would find out all about the Hikari household herself.

She didn't know why she was so curious about that idiot's background. She didn't know why she wanted to see through his icy mask so badly. Other people seemed perfectly content with Satoshi being what he was, icy and cold, not bothering to find out what he really was inside. But for some odd reason, Risa just couldn't accept the fact that he was what he seemed to be, a cold, heartless, sarcastic bastard.

After all, everyone must have something human inside them…right?

Her muse was interrupted by Satoshi entering the dorm quietly. She smiled tiredly in greeting. Satoshi nodded back and noted that Risa was already in her night dress and ready for bed.

Actually, she doesn't look half bad in that night dress….arrghh!

"Hiwatari-kun? You can stop banging your head against the wall now,"

A few minutes later, Satoshi emerged from the bathroom dressed in a rumpled T-shirt and pants. Risa was staring in horror at the bed.

Satoshi raised an eyebrow. Then he gaped, _bed _not _beds_. There was only one grand four poster bed in that room. He flushed furiously. What on earth did that sadistic Hazuka woman have against them?

"I'll sleep on the couch," he sighed, resigned.

"No," Risa unexpectedly cut in; firmly "You sleep on the bed. I'll sleep on the couch."

Satoshi blinked in surprise, "No, no. It's fine. I'm used to sleeping on couches anyway."

"No," Risa repeated, glaring slightly "_You_ sleep on the _bed_."

"No," Satoshi coolly stared back.

"Yes," Risa glared, her deep brown eyes crinkled adorably.

"No," Satoshi glared slightly too.

"Yes," Risa's glare intensified.

Satoshi growled in frustration. Those eyes! Those annoyingly big, adorable eyes! First Daisuke, now her. Curse those evil eyes!

Risa obstinately got onto the couch and sat there, refusing to budge.

"_Fine_," Satoshi exploded and to prove his point, he crawled into the huge bed, feeling rather puzzled. Why on earth was Risa suddenly being so considerate and thoughtful?

Then, he spotted a whole army of tiny spiders parading all around the bed covers.

The world made sense again.

He snorted. Consideration and thoughtfulness indeed…….

………………………………………………….

Wow, that was longer than I expected…….o.O I'm so sorry! I got into this maniacal writing frenzy…lol! Please click on that wonderfully lovely button down there and review, review, review! cheers!


	4. Chapter 4

Hi! I'm back after exams, a week-long holiday and a long writer's block. To all of you wonderful people who reviewed, I love you all XD

…………………………………………………………………...

Risa yawned and blearily opened her eyes. For a moment, she wondered where she was and why on earth was her neck aching so much. Then, she remembered with a heavy sinking feeling that she was currently at the summer camp Riku duped her into going. Thus, ended her wildest and most desperate hope that the whole camp so far had just been a particularly horrible dream due to have tasted her own cooking.

Then, onto the reason why her neck was aching: a musty, century-old couch covered in two inches of dust wasn't exactly the most comfortable place to sleep in. Especially to someone like Risa who was used to luxurious feather beds and silk quilts. Risa sighed and stared out of the huge, somewhat grimy windows. The moon was still shinning brightly. "Well," she thought, staring up at the bright, beaming moon sullenly. "At least one of us is happy."

Wondering vaguely why she had woken up so suddenly when it obviously wasn't morning yet she squirmed around on the couch, trying and failing to get comfortable. She gave it up and stared dully at the grubby ceiling. Maybe if she stared long enough at the ceiling her eyes would get tired and therefore raising her chances of falling asleep in her own personal blanket of dust.

After ten eye watering minutes, Risa had located a total number of twelve disturbingly large cracks on the ceiling. It was a wonder the ceiling hadn't collapsed already. Those twelve cracks were practically half the ceiling already and she was pretty sure if she threw a toothpick up at it, the whole ceiling would come tumbling down to form a new, slightly more gruesome variation of the Humpty Dumpty. Aaarrrgghhhh!!!! It was useless! She was reduced to pondering about _nursery rhymes_ and cracks in the ceiling in some unearthly hour in the morning that should have been reserved for romantic dreams of Dark-san!!

She glared jealously at the huddled form in the big, comfortable bed. Looks like _he _had no problems sleeping at all. Risa huffed and was about to turn away from the offending sight of someone so blissfully asleep while she was utterly unfairly cursed with insomnia when she heard a slight whimper. Startled, Risa raised her head for a moment and looked around. Nope, no trapped bunnies or puppies or kitties or whatever random cute animal that popped into Risa's sleep evasive mind.

Wait a minute, there it was again! Another whimper! She looked around wildly and something caught her eye. Satoshi wasn't sleeping as soundly as she thought he was, unless you can place 'restless twisting and turning' into the same category as 'untroubled, deep sleep.' He couldn't stop moving from side to side, as if he was trying desperately to escape from something. A nightmare perhaps?

"No," Satoshi muttered, shaking his head wildly on his pillow. "No, don't do it please….I'll do anything… don't!"

Risa clambered out of the couch, alarmed. Was he alright? She padded quietly over to his bed. Surely….surely this wasn't because of her cake (if you could call grounded cockroach gut coated in flour and sugar _cake_) was it? But he seemed perfectly fine before…..well…perfectly fine _after _violentlypurging his guts out…..but, he was _fine_!

"Hiwatari-kun," Risa whispered, placing a light hand on his shoulder and shaking him slightly. "Hiwatari-kun, are you alright?"

Satoshi turned to face her. Risa stared in slight shock: his face wasn't controlled, coolly sarcastic, and rigidly guarded as usual. He was literally breaking into cold sweat and his face was twisted into a mixed expression of extreme pain, terror and desperation. It was all too obvious that he was still sleeping, trapped in his seemingly horrific dream.

"No, please," he whimpered, voice cracking slightly. "Please, don't do anything to her. I'm begging you….stop it! Stop it…don't hurt her….. please…."

Risa was at lost. She shook him roughly in attempt to rouse him from whatever horrible dream he was having. Then, all of a sudden, Satoshi's voice rose into a scream, "NO! DON'T!!!! STOP IT! DON'T HURT HER! NO! NOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

Then, abruptly, his voice dropped into a strained whisper, "No…no…you bastard…. don't do it…please,"

Then, to Risa's amazement, she actually saw tears pouring down his cheeks. He was shivering uncontrollably and his face was clammy and pale…paler than usual, if you can actually imagine that. Oddly, Risa felt as if she was intruding something very private and personal to the blue haired boy. She made up her mind to creep back to her couch, (which strangely seemed a very, very comfortable place to be at the moment) not wanting to be caught prying into this very delicate moment. Besides, Satoshi seemed to be slowly calming down already.

However, before she could turn away, Satoshi's bright blue eyes snapped open. Risa froze, unable to escape now. He sat up abruptly, almost knocking into Risa. He stared at her, his eyes wide, whether in shock or in anger, for the life of her, Risa did not know.

"Um, hi," Risa cleared her throat, nervously. "I ….um…was on my way to the bathroom and I...uh… saw this huge spider hanging above you and...ah…I was concerned that it might hurt you so I…um…came over to flick it off and...Uhm…you woke up! So you can flick the spider off yourself….so...erm…I'll be off now…?"

Satoshi didn't seem to hear a word of Risa's very awkward ramble and merely stared at her unblinkingly and tears still running down his cheeks. Unnerved, Risa waved a hand in front of his face, "Hiwatari-kun? Are you alright? Earth to Hiwatari?"

"I couldn't do anything," Satoshi croaked, suddenly. He stared at his hands. "I couldn't stop him. I couldn't do anything at all."

Risa felt uneasy. His face, usually so passive and unemotional, looked so helpless and vulnerable, almost like a small child lost in a supermarket. Risa felt her heart soften despite herself.

"He just killed her. I couldn't do anything to help….nothing at all," he repeated, his voice sounding almost painfully child like.

"No, of course not," Risa said, uneasily. She gently patted his back in an attempt to soothe him.

"There was so much blood….so much…. I couldn't do anything at all…I just _let _it happen," Satoshi said in a strained voice, his whole body shaking.

Risa, not knowing what to do or say, squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. She could now fully appreciate Riku's previous awkward attempts on cheering her up after Dark left, now that she was in the same position herself.

Satoshi suddenly clutched her arm and stared at her pleadingly, "It wasn't my fault, was it? I couldn't do anything….I tried to stop him! I really did! Do you think she'd ever forgive me? Do you? I'm sorry…I'm sorry I was too weak…I'm sorry…I'm sorry!! Was it my fault? Was it my fault for letting her die?"

Risa felt her heart go out to the broken boy. His eyes were wide and desperate…desperate to be comforted….desperate to be assured that whatever happened was not his fault. So, Risa gave him just that. Softy she said, "Of course it wasn't your fault. You tried your best to protect her. I'm sure she understood. After all, _you_ weren't the one who killed her."

There was a pause. Then, in a hoarse whisper, he replied stonily, "_I was_."

Directly after that ominous statement, he broke down into sobs again. Risa found herself pulling him into a comforting hug. He clung onto her, sobbing into her shoulder, incomprehensibly repeating over and over again, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," till he finally passed out into uneasy sleep.

As Risa laid him down onto the soft bed and tucked him in, she should've been feeling understandably curious and suspicious at what Satoshi had unknowingly blurted out in his obvious distress and disorientation after his nightmare. Yet, the only feeling she had was the odd determination to protect him…to make sure that the troubled, helpless look on his face never returned.

She stared at his sleeping form silently. She was certain, at the very least, that Satoshi had not been fully himself after his nightmare so it was too much of a hope that Satoshi was finally beginning to trust her by blurting out his dream and worst fears. The real Satoshi in his right state of mind never would've told anyone about this, probably not even Daisuke.

However, deep down inside, she was just as certain that however aloof he may be during the day; that night, he had been acting on his subconscious need for comfort and assurance after a nightmare, just like anyone else would have. When she held him in her arms, he wasn't cold, like she expected. He was warm. Hiwatari Satoshi was no unemotional robot, or even cold, calculating, unfeeling genius most people written him off as.

He was simply human.

A very lonely one at that……

……………………………………………………………………

"Harada-san, you better wake up now. It's getting late,"

Risa mumbled a weak protest and snuggled deeper into her blanket of cloth and….dust. Oh well, at least dust was _soft _right?

"Harada-san, it's really getting late. I don't really fancy stomaching that Hazuka woman's wrath first thing in the morning. It's not very good for my digestive system. She's bad enough when she's _cheerful_."

Risa snorted slightly but otherwise continued her futile quest to steal a few more minutes of precious sleep.

"I hear that there's a really good breakfast waiting for us at the dining hall,"

Hah, attempting bribery eh? Tsk, tsk….amateurs. Bribes did not work easily on a girl who spent half her school life bribing other people to do cleaning duties and homework for her.

"Harada-san, there is this big, hairy spider hanging directly over your head,"

Risa felt a prickly sensation on her forehead and violently sat up with a scream.

"It's nice to know that you decided to join the world of the living today after all, Harada-san," Satoshi was standing over her, smirking slightly. Risa glared up at him, noting the piece of string he was holding that had been dangling over her forehead seconds before.

He was already dressed neatly in a casual shirt and pants. Risa tilted her head and gave him an appraising stare. Despite the incident only a few mere hours ago, he certainly didn't look the part of someone who had been sobbing and blurting out incomprehensible confessions to a bewildered and awkward audience at four in the morning. Upon closer inspection, he _did _look very pale. But then again, he was _always _pale. Teenage prodigies don't usually tend to go galloping under the sun chasing footballs, do they? His blue eyes were icy, no surprises there, and held a guarded, almost paranoid, expression.

"Is there something on my face?" a smooth inquiry interrupted her muse. She glared up at him again, "No. I'm merely not used to waking up to spider threats, Hiwatari-kun, and finding myself face to face with something worse than said spider."

"Good morning to you too, Harada-san. Nice to see how cheerful and polite you are this morning," Satoshi replied, a very small hint of an amused smile on his face.

Risa huffed and reluctantly got out of the couch. Odd how uncomfortable it was last night when she was supposed to sleep and how comfortable it was now when she was expected to wake up. Life was cruel and unfair.

Satoshi very wisely decided not to comment on Risa's disheveled appearance as she walked sluggishly to the bathroom. Fact: Harada Risa was not a morning person and therefore, anyone who didn't have a death wish or an odd fixation to die in the most inhumanly painful way possible should back off. Many a poor soul had learnt this the decidedly hard way and Hiwatari Satoshi had no wish to join them.

Satoshi patiently waited for Risa to get ready. Patience was a natural thing for a police commander to have. A lesser man in the patience department would've pulled all his hair out in frustration a police commander would inevitably experience while trying to trap a certain very elusive phantom thief who was certainly not a gracious winner and took each and every available opportunity to sneer and poke fun at the police force.

However, even Satoshi's patience was beginning to fail him as the many minutes ticked by. Honestly, how long _does _it take for one to brush one's teeth, to wash one's face, to brush one's hair and finally to throw on some clothes? He could probably do it in the quarter of the time needed for _this _particular individual to get ready.

For the lack of anything better to do, Satoshi stared broodingly at the wall across him. He sighed, contemplating the crisis that had been plaguing his mind since he woke up. He had potentially made a very grave and fatal error last night. Could that Harada girl really be trusted?

He didn't really know what had compelled him to tell her anything about his nightmare last night. True, he probably wasn't thinking straight, but even so, he had trained himself to be alert to the point of paranoia at any situation(having a murderous alter-ego does that to you.) Why had he slipped? He had dissected every possibility he could think of and even the most likely one seemed ludicrous, even to him. After all, alien abduction wasn't scientifically proven _yet_.

However, the one thing he could recall feeling at that time, besides horror and grief, was _warmth._ He felt a warm kind of relief, confiding, however unknowingly so, his worst fears to her. It was as if for once, he wasn't all alone to face his demons…that someone was actually there _for_ him. And strangely, when she _hugged _him, a thought that should have totally repulsed him, he felt warm, safe and protected even. Like nothing could ever hurt him….

He felt protected by a girl who had a mortal fear of spiders and would've probably screamed the end of the world over a chipped nail. The irony was overwhelming.

Satoshi grimaced slightly to himself. No matter what, he had to be careful not to let anything else slip out. It was already bad enough that he had confided in her his dreams about….._that _incident. Satoshi kneaded his head in frustration. _Don't think about it! Don't think about it!_

"Hiwatari-kun?"

Satoshi looked up eagerly. _Finally_, they were ready to go.

"Could you please pass me my toothbrush from my toiletry bag? It's the pink one,"

Satoshi resisted the overwhelming need to scream in frustration. _What? _That girl had been in the bathroom for over an hour and she _still_ hadn't brushed her teeth yet!? One of life's most profound mysteries: Why in high heavens did females require the amount of time needed for a tortoise to do ten laps around the globe to simply use the bathroom?

So, instead of gaping like an idiot, he opted for an incredulous stare, "What _were_ you doing for the past hour in the bathroom?"

Risa shot him a curious look, and replied, "Um, wash my face, do my facial scrub, then my facial mask, then apply my face moisturizer, followed by my trusty facial toner, then use my anti-acne cream and finally my scented face lotion."

Apparently misinterpreting the incredulous look etched on Satoshi's face, Risa continued, "I know it's not much, but Riku only let me bring half my usual facial treatment."

Satoshi simply could not find the words to express his very exasperated thoughts so he handed over her toothbrush muttering, "At least the only thing you can do with your teeth is to _brush _them…."

"Oh no, after that, I'll need to floss my teeth with my specially treated strawberry-flavored floss, and I'll have to use my daily teeth whitening solution and then finally I'll need to use my teeth strengthening mouth wash and-"

Satoshi felt the childish need to bury his head into his pillow and scream his lungs out. So, as soon as the bathroom door was shut, he did just that.

……………………………………………………………………

"What took you two so long?" Daisuke asked a very disgruntled Satoshi when they gathered in the conference hall. "Breakfast was nearly over when you two came dashing down into the dining hall."

"Don't ask," Satoshi replied, darkly. He barely had any time to gobble down a couple mouthfuls of food by the time they both stumbled into the dining hall.

Daisuke gave him that sympathetically _knowing _look and said, "Riku tried her best to make her bring as little as she could."

"_Little_?" Satoshi muttered, wryly.

Daisuke chuckled a little before continuing rather solemnly, "You know, Risa was quite torn up inside about Dark leaving although she doesn't show it much."

"I know," Satoshi answered, rather uncomfortably. He always felt this weird sinking feeling whenever he thought of Risa's huge infatuation with the phantom thief, although he didn't know what it was. Perhaps it was dissatisfaction that he couldn't catch the thief after all?

"When people receive a huge shock, they usually tend to try to continue life as normally as possible. Familiarity becomes some sort of a comfort to them. For example, when they loose someone important, familiarity comforts them that some things won't ever change. In the turmoil of emotions they feel, it becomes something reassuring they can grip on," Daisuke went on, smiling sadly. Satoshi instantly knew that Daisuke was still mourning the disappearance of Dark. Despite Daisuke's frequent complains that Dark was a moral- lacking pervert, Dark had become some sort of a brother and friend to Daisuke.

"Just like Risa's odd morning ritual of facial treatments," Daisuke concluded. "You know what I'm getting at?"

"Yeah, yeah," Satoshi sighed. "Be patient with Risa because she's an emotional wreck and her every morning facial treatments and whatnots has become her only reasons for living and the light of her life."

Daisuke shot him a disapproving stare; the one that a puppy would give you if you had forgotten to feed it for two days straight. It really was quite disturbing. Satoshi finally relented, "I was joking, you idiot."

Before Daisuke could reply, a sudden hush fell upon the gaggle of teens gathered in the hall. Their most dreaded nightmare, a demon in disguise, had entered the hall. The said terrifying apparition was also known as Hazuka-_san_.

"Good morning, children!" she trilled, cheerfully. Most of the victims in the hall were already mentally bracing themselves for their inevitable doom.

"Do you want to know your challenge for today?" an aura of suffocating genkiness enveloped the short woman.

Satoshi inwardly cringed. Hmm…let's think…does he want to jump off a cliff?

"You all are just going to _love _this!" she went on, practically bouncing in glee…..bad sign…._very_ bad sign. Anything that made that sadistic Hazuka woman happy promised impending, inescapable doom for them.

"Your challenge for today is ………."

_Oh, hurry up, the suspense is killing me_……Satoshi thought, sarcastically…_although, the challenge itself is probably even more likely to kill me_………. _But still…just get it over with already!_

"- a _Drag Queen_ Contest!"

There was a stark difference in reaction in the audience:

The males promptly paled and began to shout in appalled protest.

The females instantly turned red in glee and roared their approval.

And thus, Hiwatari Satoshi concluded that females, regardless of age or upbringing, were a vicious bunch of sadists who took particular glee in making life miserable for unfortunate guys, namely, _them_.

"Girls, you would all be given a trunk filled with accessories, wigs, dresses and equipment! Transform all those ugly ducklings into beautiful, ladylike swans! The team with the most convincing and best looking 'girl' wins! You all have one day. Good luck"

"She's really bent on making our lives living hell for us, isn't she?" Daisuke commented, very faintly. He looked as if he was about to pass out.

"Gee, you think?" Satoshi replied, dryly.

……………………………………………………………………

"Uwah! Look at all the cute stuff Hazuka-san got for us!" Risa announced, happily diving into the trunk she had been given.

Satoshi was busy trying to put as much space as he could between him and those……accessories...or should he say…ridiculously pink torture devices. He didn't reply.

"Look! This midnight blue gown would complement your eyes beautifully, Hiwatari-kun!"

Reluctantly, Satoshi turned to look at the piece of clothing Risa was proudly holding out. He resisted the urge to scream bloody murder. Dear Gods….it had to be the most disgustingly _frilly _dress he had ever seen, and _he _grew up attending posh parties where there _had _to be some sort of unspoken rule that women weren't allowed to wear clothes that cost less than half their husband's monthly paycheck.

"I wouldn't be caught _dead_ in that _thing_," Satoshi said, flatly. He could practically feel the hairs standing at the back of his neck.

"Then what's the problem?" Risa beamed in a very Daisuke-ish way. "I don't particularly want you to be caught _dead _in this dress. Not that it wouldn't be an improvement, but I have a sneaking suspicion that corpse would be disqualified from this contest."

Ouch. Satoshi winced slightly at the 'improvement' bit. "The answer is still _no_," he shook his head stubbornly.

"Pretty please?" Risa eerily resembled a little girl who had been just denied candy.

"Nah,"

"It's just for one day!"

"Nope,"

"Pleeeaasse?"

"Negative,"

"Think of how pretty you'd look in it!"

Wow, congratulations Harada Risa! You have just flunked Negotiation 101!

"I refuse,"

"Come on!"

"How many adaptations of the word 'no' would you like to hear, Harada-san?"

"I _don't_. So say 'yes' for a change,"

"In that case, never in a thousand years,"

…………………………………………………………………...

"Remind me again why I agreed to this," Satoshi sighed, as he perched moodily on a stool as Risa did up his hair…or rather…his wig…his _black _wig...his _long black _wig.

"Hmmm, because you eventually ran out of synonyms for the word 'no'," Risa grinned, triumphantly.

"….and?"

"Oh yes, and the fact that I threatened to make Hazuka-san force you to wear this nice, skimpy, black dress with the skirt as high as your thighs that I had in mind _may _have convinced you a _little_," Risa smiled fondly at the memory of Satoshi's mixed expression of disgust and horror. It was _priceless_.

Satoshi sighed deeply. The only thing that was keeping him relatively sane was the fact that he didn't need to wear that revolting thing –cough- _dress_ until the very last minute when it was time for the judging. As much as Risa whined, he was _not _going to parade around in that dress all day. His dignity was shattered enough as it is.

"Hmm, I don't think I should make your hairstyle _too _elaborate," Risa was saying, critically holding up the wig. "Simple elegance is the essence of fashion after all. Curls and tresses would look horrible on you. Anyway, those hairstyles take _ages _to do up. Perhaps you should just wear your hair down? Nope, too simple. We need something……_sophisticated_…you know, not too complicated but with a touch of style and grace. Well, I _could _pin up your hair and let a few strands frame your face. That might work…the strands might enhance your narrow face and make and illusion of roundness-"

Hiwatari Satoshi, genius prodigy, master of over twelve different languages, had completely and utterly failed to comprehend the complexity of this language that the creature _playing with his hair _was spouting a mile a minute. If there ever was a language for air headed stupidity, this would be it.

"Tsk, tsk, you have split ends, Hiwatari-kun,"

"Oh no,"

"Just _look_ at the dry condition of your hair!"

"The horror,"

"You really should get a good conditioner, you know,"

"I'll make a point of it,"

"Your hair is just _dropping _out!"

"Oh my, I do think I'm going to faint,"

"Hiwatari-kun! Be serious!" Risa pouted, cuffing his head. Satoshi rubbed his head and scowled in reply, "If you're going to stuff a wig on my head, does it _matter _how many split ends I've got?"

Risa sharply yanked out a strand of his hair in reply. "Oops, my hand slipped," she smiled, innocently. Satoshi treated her to his coldest glare. She merely hummed cheerfully in return. Hmm, perhaps his glares were simply too _sophisticated _for a simple mind like hers to grasp? Or was it because his glares only worked on people with an IQ over fifty?

Well, in her case, probably both…

…………………………………………………………………………………

Satoshi swore under his breath. He was currently aimlessly trudging down the many hallways of this cursed place. Why? Oh, because his fashion advisor/ tormenter/ sadistic make-up artist had sent him on an errand to find _ribbons_. Yes, _ribbons_. Open your eyes girl! Does this place _look _like it has ribbons stuffed into its grimy corners? But oh no, _when there is a will, there is a way_, she had said.

"I'm _willing _myself to get out of this mess and back home to the logical and uncomplicated comforts of my computer and chasing criminals, but there is no _way _either you, Daisuke or heavens help me, _Hazuka _is going to let me out of this place alive," he had retorted.

"Fine, let me rephrase myself: When there is a will to find ribbons, there is a way to find ribbons," she had replied, her stubborn trait she shared with her twin inconveniently surfacing.

"Who ever said there ever was a _will_ to find the blasted ribbons?" he had snapped.

And thus, with uncanny and inhumane strength, Harada Risa booted him bodily out of their room, warning him not to come back till he had acquired the desired ribbons.

Which brings us back to 'trudging down the many hallways of this cursed place.' He sighed deeply. What on earth had he done to deserve this?

After walking past fifty portraits (yes, he counted. He was _that _bored), he came across another room. No doubt it belonged to another team. He paused at the doorway to listen. Yes, he knew eavesdropping wasn't the most honorable of past times but he had this sadistic urge to observe another male suffering at the hands of a frill-happy female other than himself. It made a nice change. He heard a girl yelling something. Well…no surprises there. He leaned in the listen.

"Think! You are an animal in the wild! Growl! Think primal! Yes, flaunt your inner beast. Oooh! That's lovely! Be provocative, be aggressive! Rawrr! Sway your hips more. Good, now lash out with your whip! NO! Not like that. Your whip isn't a bloody willow, for goodness sake. Be more sharp and purposeful! Careful now, your bunny ears are falling off. Yes. Perfect! Now, flutter that miniskirt skirt teasingly…NO! I said flutter, not pull, you idiot! You must give the audience a _hint _of that black G-string behind that tiny skirt, not blare it out like that! The seductiveness of subtlety! And-"

Upon which, Hiwatari Satoshi, jaw agape and eyes wide, decided that he had heard enough to last him an entire lifetime and beyond. He shakily walked off, fighting the urge to curl up into a ball and shudder uncontrollably. Girls were scary….

There were some things in life that you were better off knowing.

To Satoshi's traumatized mind, this was definitely one of those times.

……………………………………………………………………

Harada Risa raised an eyebrow at Satoshi's flushed demeanor as he walked tremblingly back into the room. He promptly bumped into five chairs before finally making his way over to her. She raised her eyebrows questioningly, "Anything wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing at all," mumbled Satoshi, dazed. If you could call….that _very_ disturbing mental picture _nothing wrong. _The visualization itself was enough to give him nightmares for a week, as if he hadn't had enough of those already. Wordlessly, he held out the ribbons that he had borrowed from the Riku and Daisuke team.

Seeing Daisuke in a dress again was both comical and nostalgic. Daisuke, however, found the situation in which he had to act as a girl _again_ rather less than amusing. On the other hand, he couldn't _possibly_ argue with his 'honey-bun' now, could he? And she was ever _so _excited about this challenge. Satoshi enjoyed a temporary feeling of sadistic amusement at those conflicting thoughts obviously running through the miserable redhead's head.

"Eh? Green ribbons?" Risa said, critically holding up the ribbons to the light. "I don't think these ribbons would match your dress, though. Anyway, I've changed my mind. Ribbons certainly won't do. It would clash horribly with your dress and make you look like someone childish playing dress-up,"

"Which is basically what I'm doing now, isn't it," Satoshi muttered under his breath. Risa ignored him and continued to scrutinize the rejected ribbons.

"Nope, these won't do," she announced. "Go out and try to find a… bonnet….preferably a blue one, if you can. Yes, it would suit your dress perfectly."

And from then on, Satoshi was repeatedly sent out to find the many accessories that Risa seemingly couldn't live without. He did so considerably meekly for the first five wanted items, but when Risa ordered him out yet again to find a pair of lacy white stockings that was apparently 'vital to complete the dress' (as was the other five items she had previously rejected), he finally cracked.

"Harada-san, I'm trying my best to be as patient as possible, but there has to be a limit somewhere," he said, through gritted teeth.

"What do you mean, Hiwatari-kun?" Risa tilted her head innocently, though the affect was ruined somewhat by the tiny smirk on her face.

"_What do I mean_?" Satoshi repeated, incredulously. "Let's see. First, ribbons, then a bonnet, _then _a hair band, _then _the _pantyhose_, all of which you rejected, might I remind you, and _now _stockings?! What next? _Fishnets and lingerie_?!"

Not many had the privilege of seeing Satoshi work himself up into a rant before. After all, one or two ice embedded sentences from him was usually more than enough to make the average person burst into tears.

However, far from being fazed, Risa thoughtfully tapped a finger against her chin before exclaiming cheerfully, "Fishnets and lingerie! What an inspiration! Yes, the fishnets would give an air of mystery and intrigue, contrasting beautifully with your frilly, tame-looking blue gown. Of course the lingerie can't be seen, but it'll make you feel more _feminine _and _delicate_. Great idea, Hiwatari-kun! Now, why don't you go and find-"

"NO!!!!! Okay, okay, I'll get the blasted stockings!" Satoshi surrendered in panic, waving his hands agitatedly. He quickly stumbled out of the room before Risa had any time to insist on the fishnets and lingerie. He shuddered inwardly at the thought.

Risa could hardly wait until Satoshi was out of earshot before she burst into peals of laughter.

…………………………………………………………………...

Risa pulled a needle through the blue cloth once more. Despite how appalling she was at cooking, her needle work was unexpectedly good, as the sewing teacher was constantly reminding her (stressing the word 'unexpectedly' a little more than necessary.) The reason she kept sending Satoshi out in meaningless errands was so that she wouldn't need to face him alone more than necessary. She still felt mildly uncomfortable about him blurting out his nightmare to her last night. She didn't know how to face him anymore….was she suppose to go, "Hi! You told me that you witnessed a bloody murder! Want to tell me about it?"

She could tell that by the careful way that Satoshi was acting today, he certainly wanted to continue life as if the nightmare-confiding incident never happened. And judging by the closed expression in his face, he was determined that she wasn't going to find out any more than she already did. So far, he was succeeding.

Risa had come to the conclusion that what Satoshi had been gibbering about was really the haunting of a memory of the time when he was Krad… when he had no control over his body ….when he had to hurt people against his will. She had found out about the whole Niwa-Dark, Hikari-Krad legacy. She had forced it out of Daisuke a week after Dark disappeared from the world.

It really came as a huge shock to her when she found out that her dashing Dark-san was actually Daisuke's alter-ego. Well, at least that revelation had eased the slight regret that Dark-san had never tasted her cooking. Though, she wasn't so sure whether Dark-san viewed this as a blessing as well, judging by Daisuke's response to her cooking…

Daisuke had also told her all about the Hikari-Niwa feud (Risa was frankly amazed how much one would reveal when one was threatened with Harada Risa's cooking.) She felt herself feeling bad for Satoshi. He was being forced to hunt down a handsome thief like Dark-san! But jokes aside, she knew it must be no picnic to loose control over your own body and be forced to do things against your will while all you could do was watch… she could now understand why Satoshi was so anti-social and cold. Imagine living in fear everyday that a murderous alter-ego could take over your body at any moment you let your guard down...

So that woman had to be yet another victim of Krad…and Satoshi hadn't been able to do anything to help her…

And there was the matter of the carvings on that tree in the veranda. Risa sighed; her life was so much less complicated before Hiwatari Satoshi stumbled into it…..

"Harada-san, I couldn't find any stockings. Would socks do?"

Risa jumped a mile when she heard his voice. What? He was back already? Fazed, she turned to him and accepted the pair of hideous purple socks Satoshi was holding out without saying a word. She heard Satoshi's audible sigh of relief when she did so.

Throwing all caution to the winds, she suddenly blurted, "Hiwatari-kun, what was that nightmare about?"

She felt Satoshi stiffen immediately. Risa found herself regretting she ever asked. She didn't know what compelled her to ask in the first place. Anyway, it was too late to turn back now. She would face it with squared shoulders and hope it doesn't crumble under Satoshi's sarcastic tongue.

"That, Harada-san is none of your business," he replied, icily, clenching his fist.

Risa refused to back down. "You woke me up last night with your screaming and pleading. I _do _think that entitles me to an explanation," she retorted. Well, it wasn't exactly true. She was already awake before she heard him crying into the dark…but as some guy said, how's one little white lie going to hurt anybody?

"In that case, you thought wrong, Harada-san," Satoshi replied, the epitome of politeness, but Risa sense the dangerous razor- edge embedded in those polite tones.

"Oh, really? I don't think so," Risa folded her arms stubbornly. Then, realizing that if she was going along this track, she wouldn't be getting anywhere with that stubborn genius, she added, "Can't you tell me? As a friend?"

"Unfortunately, you delude yourself if you consider yourself a _friend_ of mine," Satoshi glared at her coldly.

Risa felt a flash of hurt. It hurt more than she expected. Glaring back at Satoshi she demanded, "Why? Why is the idea of being friends with me so repulsive?"

"Would a true friend demand his _rights _to know something that his friend wasn't ready to tell him just yet?" Satoshi countered back.

"A true friend would be _worried_ when the friend in question wakes up screaming apologies in the middle of the night," Risa replied, angrily. "A true friend wouldn't just sit back and _wait _for the friend in question to finally _choose _to confide in him when said friend is as stubborn as a dog dragged off to take a bath."

When Satoshi didn't reply, Risa went on, "A true friend would do whatever it takes to help when his friend is in trouble. Wouldn't he, Hiwatari Satoshi?"

"I don't _need_ your help. Or your pity either," Satoshi finally muttered in a low voice.

"Oh yes, judging by the state you were in last night, you _definitely _don't need any help whatsoever," Risa scoffed, glaring at him accusingly.

"For once, you got it right. I _don't_," Satoshi snapped, his fists clenched as tightly as ever. But there was a certain lack of conviction in his reply this time.

Risa noticed this, and her glare softened slightly. She said gently, "Look, Hiwatari. I know this is hard for you, but why don't you just give it a try? You've tried bottling up everything inside and hoping that it'll just fade away but that didn't work, did it? Why don't you try another way? Try confiding in someone, it doesn't have to be me, you know. After all, you've got nothing to loose."

When Satoshi didn't reply again, Risa sighed impatiently, "What's with you guys and pride? You just don't _want_ to admit that you can't solve all your problems alone, is that it?"

"You don't know what _he_ was like," Satoshi mumbled, staring at his feet. Then, turning his glare to Risa, he spat, "You don't know _anything _about him, so stop pretending that you _do_."

"You're right, I _don't_. So why don't you enlighten me?" Risa replied, raising an eyebrow.

"I-" Satoshi began, looking away. "I don't _owe _you any explanations, Harada-san."

"There you are again!" Risa said, exasperatedly. "You go about claiming that nobody understands you, but it's not really out fault, now is it, judging by the fact that you just close yourself up and _refuse_ to letanybody know the real you at all. Krad's gone, Hiwatari-kun. He haunted you in the past…are you still going to let him haunt you even now, when he's gone?"

"He's _not_ haunting me," Satoshi snapped back, defensively.

"Do you really believe that, Hiwatari-kun?"

That simple question hung in the air for a moment in silence. Until-

"No," Satoshi said in a low voice, relenting visibly. "No, I don't."

"I thought so," Risa said, quietly. "So what are you going to do about it? Try to ignore and suppress the memory of him again? That's not going to work, Hiwatari-kun. You're just running away from him….or more precisely, _yourself_."

"Then what am I suppose to do?" Satoshi demanded, bitterly. "He's already gone, Harada-san. How am I going to defeat something that's already gone?"

"I don't know," Risa answered, honestly. "But if you let me, maybe I can help find a way."

"Fat lot of help you'll be," Satoshi scoffed, skeptically.

"Try me," Risa raised her chin, stubbornly. "Look, you've got nothing to loose by trusting me, right?"

"As a matter of fact, I _do_," Satoshi replied, still skeptical. "My privacy, for example."

"Do I look like I would go about blaring out things that people trust me to keep a secret?" Risa demanded, insulted.

"…..Do you want an honest answer?"

"Aargh!" Risa mussed up her hair in frustration. "I _don't_, alright? I may be air-headed, brainless, or whatever you secretly call me behind my back, but I. Am. Not. A. Traitor, Hiwatari Satoshi!!"

Satoshi paused for a while, then he visibly deflated in defeat, "…Alright, fine. You probably won't stop bugging me until I agree anyway. Proceed with your therapy session, Dr. Harada."

Risa sighed in relief and unclenched her fists. "What was that nightmare all about?" she asked.

"Well, from what I blurted out last night, I'm sure you've got the general picture," Satoshi sighed, rubbing his temples.

"When was it that Krad killed that lady?" Risa asked, curiously.

"I don't remember,"

"Well, it shouldn't be too long ago. After all, your DNA thingy only works when you're 14, right?" Risa mused.

"That's true," Satoshi shrugged.

"Why was it that Krad killed the lady?" Risa knew she was pushing it, but somehow, she felt as if the answers to those questions were important….that somehow, it _meant _something to the blue haired genius.

"I don't remember," Satoshi replied, monotonously.

Risa just _knew _she was pushing her luck, but she _had _to ask this last question.

"Um, Hiwatari-kun. Who was it _exactly _that Krad killed?"

"That's the scariest part," Satoshi stared straight into her eyes.

"_I don't remember_."

……………………………………………………………………...

Yay! Cliff-hanger!!!! Always wanted to do one of those XP Anyway, pleeaaassse review, review, review! -Tries and fails an impression of Daisuke's pout/glare technique-


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

* * *

"What do you mean you don't remember?" Risa asked, incredulously. 

"I meant exactly that," Satoshi said, glowering impatiently. "I. Don't. Remember."

"But-But it was just barely _months_ ago!" Risa said, her hands gesturing wildly as if trying to convey her stupendous bewilderment. "You remember everything _else_ when he-when he-he- you know-"

"When he tried repeatedly to kill Daisuke and other innocent people? _Yes_, as the matter of fact, I do," Satoshi said through gritted teeth, his fists clenching again as he tried in vain to block out those unpleasant memories. "I just don't know _why _I can't remember anything about this particular incident - it's as if it never happened, as far as I can remember."

"Maybe it really _did_ never happen," Risa offered quietly, looking thoughtful.

"You mean to say…you mean to say that-that I just _dreamt it all_?" Satoshi demanded, pounding his fist into an ancient wooden table. A large dent appeared where his fist contacted. A few drops of blood smeared the splintery crater.

"Hiwatari-kun, you're bleeding!" Risa gasped, staring in horror at the cruel looking crimson gash.

Satoshi ignored her. In fact, he hardly seemed aware of his white, bleeding knuckles. His blue bangs covered his eyes as he stared down at his shoes and said softly, "She was a beautiful woman, you know. She was _screaming_, Harada-san. Screaming. Her eyes were wide with fear and-and anger…wide with…with utter _repulsion ._I felt the cold feeling of her _blood _on _my _hands…and I heard that _bastard _laughing, taunting her and how...how easily her flesh tore apart as I -_he_- drove that dagger through her heart…"

He glanced up at the speechless girl and asked quietly, "Do you think I can actually just _dream_ all that up? That the whole event was just a fiction of my twisted imagination?"

Risa said nothing as she stared wide eyed at the trembling boy, seemingly temporarily loosing her ability to speak, not that Satoshi was complaining however. In fact, he was contemplating briefly how wonderful it would be if it could be permanent. Blessed silence….

"Hiwatari-kun-"

...And she just had to go ahead and ruin it…

"-did you ever try to find out about it? Even if you can't remember, there has to be some official record about it; after all, it _is _a murder case,"

Satoshi concealed an amused smile. Women…they never _could _admit they were wrong, could they? He supposed this was the closest he'd get to a formal white flag from Risa.

"I did," Satoshi replied curtly. "I went through the official criminal records and I couldn't find any murder cases listed that had even the slightest resemblance to the murder I…witnessed in the past one year."

"Why only the past one year?" Risa asked, tilting her head curiously.

"That's roughly when my DNA starts reacting and I start transforming into Krad," Satoshi explained patiently. "It's as if it never happened, at least- _officially_."

Risa hummed thoughtfully in reply. Then, her eyes brightened. Satoshi could practically see a light bulb flashing above her head. He stared at the girl expectantly.

"Hiwatari-kun, have you ever thought of asking Saehara-kun on this matter?"

Satoshi gaped at her soundlessly. For a second there, he _actually _expected a halfway intelligent response from the infamous airhead. He asked incredulously, "Why on earth would I ask _Saehara _of all people for a solution? See, I, unlike _some_ people who have yet to get a life, do not require photographs of Dark as much as an average person needs oxygen in order to live. So please tell me just _how _Saehara would be able to help me in this matter?"

For some reason, Risa vaguely felt as if she had been insulted. She tossed the disbelieving genius a cold look, "Saehara-kun may not be able to help much, but his _father _could. I mean, he _is _a police inspector."

Satoshi smiled wryly, "Harada-san, you're looking at the person in charge of handing Saehara's father his monthly paycheck. If _I _can't get any information on the case, I'm pretty sure _he_ can't either."

"As much as your utter humbleness overwhelms me, I beg to differ," Risa said stiffly, rolling her eyes. "I mean, think about it- what's the one thing Inspector Saehara surpasses you at?"

"Level of incompetence?"

"Wow, real modest guy, aren't you?" Risa said sarcastically. "In case you haven't figured out yet, _no_, that's not it."

"Um, his dire need for fame and recognition?"

"No!" Risa snapped, throwing her hands up impatiently. "Which professor qualified you as a genius again? Because somebody_ has_ to revoke his qualification or something."

Satoshi bristled in indignation. For the fist time, he actually put in some effort into thinking about the answer. "Weight? Height?" he offered in bewilderment.

"No!" Risa growled, crossing her arms. Classic female battle stance. Satoshi wisely took extra caution and delicacy in his next answer.

"Age?" he said uncertainly, mentally bracing himself for a stinging reply.

"Yes!" Risa replied, punching her hand up into the air in mock jubilance. "_Finally_ our bumbling hero gets it."

Satoshi's indignation was fortunately overshadowed by his confusion. "What? How does his age make him more likely to get information that I can't?" he asked, baffled. "I've gone through the police records; I've even hacked into various criminal files belonging to police forces all over the world. That man barely remembers the password to his own computer, for goodness sake!"

"With age comes wisdom," Risa said, in a rather convincing sagely voice.

"Oh, and Inspector Saehara is just _the _understatement of that phrase," Satoshi said dryly. "The one who tried and failed repeatedly to capture Dark even when the thief gives out blasted _calling cards_."

"….so did you,"

"I got closer to achieving it than _him _at any rate," Satoshi scowled, defensively.

"Alright, fine," Risa pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "With age comes _experience_."

"Experience?" Satoshi scoffed. "Harada-san, I've been solving cases all over the country while _he_ spends half his work life pretending to do paperwork and getting bribes."

"Gee, sure looks like you've got a real good opinion about him," Risa muttered sarcastically. "Look at it this way: he's older than you; therefore, he's been serving in the police force longer than you."

"So?" Satoshi was at lost at where Risa was going on with this.

"Meaning, he's been solving cases while _you _were still a squawking, scowling infant," Risa said, impatiently. "Maybe he's heard of or even solved such a case _before_ your reign of tyranny."

_Tyranny?_ Satoshi scowled inwardly, insulted.

"Even if he _did _solve such a case before my –ahem- _reign of tyranny_, it still would've been recorded in the criminal files - and it's not," Satoshi pointed out, skeptically.

"It wouldn't hurt to ask, right?" Risa replied, frustrated. "Even if the case wasn't recorded, he still has a higher chance of having heard of it, no matter how incompetent he is."

Satoshi considered this briefly. The girl did have a good point…vaguely…but nonetheless something he could work with.

"Fine, I'll ask him," Satoshi said, doubtfully. "But I don't expect any results, either way."

"It's a start," Risa shrugged, smiling widely in triumph. Then, her eyes happened to dart to the clock and she jumped slightly. "Hiwatari-kun! We haven't completed your costume yet…..and we only have half an hour left!!"

"Who's complaining?" Satoshi muttered under his breath.

Risa, ignoring his statement, jumped into action in a flurry of cloth, needles and lace. Satoshi just sat down calmly, suddenly aware of his bleeding knuckles. Now, when did _that _happen..?

"Hiwatari-kun, put this on!" Risa shoved the lacy, blue gown into his hands as she scurried away to get the wig. "Hurry!"

Satoshi stared in distaste at the very lacy material as he held it up gingerly between two fingers at arms length as if he were holding up some foul substance. (Which it was….to him)

"Now!" Risa roughly shoved him into a dressing room. Whatever happened to the so called gentler and sweeter twin? Satoshi stared in morbid fascination at the gown. So…many…laces….

"If your so called genius brain is incapable of processing this simple request, do you want me to go in there and put it on for you?" Risa's exasperated voice floated from the other side of the dusty, velvet curtain.

Satoshi stuck out his tongue at the curtain (what…was he not permitted to be a little childish when he was forced into _cross dressing _as some demented lace-obsessed princess from the middle ages?) and sighed in resignation. Gingerly, he picked up the blue material, grimacing to himself.

"Wait, Hiwatari-kun! Put this on first," Risa threw in something white into the dressing room. Scowling, Satoshi picked up the white material and stared…and stared…and stared.

"Harada-san," Satoshi's voice trembled slightly. "…….is that a corset?"

* * *

"Hiwatari-kun! You look so cute!" Risa squealed in delight when the disgruntled boy emerged from the dressing room flushing furiously.

Unfortunately for Satoshi, Risa's enthusiastic squeal was rather accurate. The soft blue of the gown brought out the colours of his deep eyes and pale skin beautifully. The extravagant lace and ribbons that hung daintily around the waist, the trailing skirt and the high neckline didn't look as garish as he'd expected it would, rather, it somehow softened his image and made him look more feminine. The corset made his stiff, straight male figure more curvy and lady-like and the silky blue skirt billowed out softly just the right way.

Risa thought he looked like an adorable china doll.

Satoshi thought he was going to pass out from humiliation and suffocation. _How_ women those days managed to breathe while being practically wrapped up in those abominably tight torture devices (corsets) he would never know.

Perhaps that's why Juliet made such a stupid mistake of falling in love with someone she _knew _was from the family of which her own family couldn't stand the sight of and goes ahead and somehow ends up killing both of her _and _her lover; she wasn't thinking straight….. half of her brain had been undeveloped due to the lack of oxygen.

And they say love can overcome everything….stupid romantics…

Judging by the great works of Shakespear, ninety nine point nine percent of the time, the love struck couple would end up dead some way or the other. So why do people bother falling in love in the first place? Seems like a waste of energy and brain cells.

He had to get out of the cursed corset quick before his IQ suffered and he'd fall in love with a girl forbidden to him (horrors of horrors) and murder himself and the girl in an oxygen-depraved fit of insanity.

Heck, why was he even _thinking _about this? Gargh!!! The oxygen depravation was damaging his brain already!! Noooo!

"Please, can we just go out for the judging and get this over with quickly?" Satoshi said in a strained voice.

"Nope!" Risa sounded all too happy in his moment of suffering. "I still have to do up your wig and apply some makeup."

"Wait….makeup?" Satoshi rolled the foreign word off his tongue with a grimace of horror. "You can't _possibly _mean-"

"Oh yes I do," Risa practically sang out in glee. "Your face is too pale, Hiwatari-kun. We'll need to add some colour to it."

Ah, now Satoshi saw why the corsets were invented. Some women just….bloody…deserved…it. Maybe they were less capable of evil when their air circulation was cut off.

All disgustingly bubbly and cheery, Risa pushed Satoshi to sit down in front of a huge, intricately carved mirror. She carefully positioned the neatly done up glossy black wig on top of his head. It worked like magic, making Satoshi seem ten times more feminine even while he was wearing the gown, if that was even possible. She brushed a few strands here and there and stood back to admire her handiwork.

Satoshi loathed admitting it, but her sense of style was good. The wig was done up in an elaborate bun, held up with a shiny blue clip studded with white miniature roses. A few strands of hair framed his face delicately. He could hardly recognize the….dare he say it?...very girly and pretty person staring back at him from the mirror. Risa stood next to him proudly.

"And now, for the main event!" Risa gleefully brought out a large makeup kit in flourish. Satoshi shrank back in disgust.

"Is that really necessary?" Satoshi said, cringing. "I know it's some sort of freakish female ritual to sit in front of the dressing table for hours and hours doing up one eyelash at the time or something but I'm kind of exempted from it, aren't I? I don't need to build my self confidence on nail polish or lipsticks of whatever you girls invent to convince yourself you'd look prettier in. After all, I _am_ a guy."

"Oh, and you're the very _epitome _of masculinity right about now," Risa teased, smirking at the girly image sitting beside her.

"How cute…. a smart reply. Did you stay up all week on it?" Satoshi smirked back, leering at her.

And thus, Hiwatari Satoshi learned the hard way that it is never wise to annoy a female when you were at the mercy of her dreaded makeup kit.

* * *

A few minutes later, Satoshi gaped at the image staring back at him from the mirror. His naturally pale face was reddened slightly to give him a rosier look and he could taste the unpleasant taste of lipstick smeared on his lips. Anyone who saw him now would have automatically assumed he was nothing but a very pretty and dainty fair little maiden….and that wasn't exactly a very comforting thought right now… 

Finally, Risa took off his glasses, stating he'd look more feminine without them. He couldn't argue with _that_…but it didn't mean he was happy with it. Somehow, he felt a little weak and vulnerable without the familiar weight of his glasses resting on his nose though his eyesight was actually perfectly fine in the first place.

"Come on, princess," Risa grinned impishly, tugging at his arm. He reluctantly got up, tripping clumsily over his trailing skirt as he staggered after her. Ah well, the sooner he got this over with, the better. The hallway was mercifully empty, so no one was present to witness his embarrassing struggle with the long trailing skirt but a very amused Risa, which was bad enough already.

The rhythm of his long, memorable walk of fame went something like this: step, step, step, stumble, step, step, trip, step, step, step, step, stagger, step, step, stumble, step, step, step, collapse, stomp, stomp stomp, stomp, stomp…fall face first into the musty carpet.

Chuckling slightly, Risa offered a hand to the very disgruntled mess of blue sprawled on the dusty carpet. Swearing under his breath Satoshi wobbly got up, pointedly ignoring Risa's offer for help. Risa shook her head and grinned in amusement as Satoshi continued to stubbornly press on with his battle with his trailing long skirt.

Thoughts of blackmail leaps to mind……..

"Hiwatari-kun, it would kind of help a little if you didn't walk like you were repeatedly trying to smash your feet through the floor," Risa suggested mildly, raising her eyebrows at the puffs of dust that rose from the carpet whenever an irate Satoshi's foot stomped onto it.

Satoshi gritted his teeth and tried to block out Risa's very amused voice. To divert her attention from his graceful little steps, he asked, "So, when do we ask Inspector Saehara about it?"

Risa was not lost on the attempt to change the subject. Nevertheless, she decided to take pity on the pretty, flushing, gown wearing, lace-decked boy.

"Anytime," she shrugged. "You could confront him and ask him about it after this camp."

"I was thinking about just calling him up from here and asking him about it," Satoshi faked an air of nonchalance. He didn't want that girl to know that he had actually given some thought about her idea and had mentally deemed it reasonably acceptable. He didn't want to admit that he, too, was kind of curious to hear what Inspector Saehara had to say.

Risa had a thoughtful look on her face before answering, "It might be a good idea to put the plan into action earlier. The sooner we find out if he knows anything, the better."

Satoshi felt relieved that she had agreed. If she disagreed, then he'd have to insist on it and that would only reveal just how much he really wanted to know Inspector Saehara's answer. So, yeah? He had his pride. It was about the only thing a male could cling on to when he had _makeup _on his face and a _corset _around his waist.

He miraculously flipped out his cell phone seemingly out of no where. Risa stared, wide eyed. "Did…you just pull out your phone from-"

Satoshi shrugged, "As a police commander I have to keep my cell phone with me at all times in case I get an emergency call. And the quack who designed this _thing _for all its ridiculous laces and ribbons doesn't have enough creativity to think about adding a _pocket_ so-"

Risa made a mental note to never ever touch that cell phone again.

"Now then," Satoshi expertly flipped through his contact list with lightning speed. "There. His office number. I keep his number on speed dial just in case. Incompetent or not, he's still a rather high-up inspector."

Risa smiled inwardly at how defensive Satoshi was being at suddenly having the inspector's number on speed no? Especially after Satoshi just revealed extravagantly how lowly he thought of that particular inspector.

Satoshi leaned against the dusty wall, rumpling his dress slightly, much to Risa's slight annoyance. He put the phone to his ear and tried to look as casual as possible. As if the person he was calling was just another useless politician trying to bribe him into overlooking his corrupted endeavors and not at all an equally useless and corrupted subordinate who just might hold the key to the mystery that had puzzled him since Krad appeared in his life...

…. the time he first started having those dreams…

"What!" a rather harsh voice suddenly barked through the line. "I'm having a meeting in two minutes and if I miss that, so help me, I'll find out which division you're from and I'll personally make life a living hell for you. The commander's slacking off on some holiday, so now _I'm _in charge, you hear? Not that our delicate, useless, faint-hearted slacker I call a commander was much of a commander anyway- so what the hell do you want? Who _are _you anyway? You'd better make this quick or I'll-"

"Your delicate, useless, faint-hearted slacker you call a commander speaking," Satoshi's voice was dripping with frosty sarcasm. If ice could travel through phone lines Inspector Saehara would've have icicles hanging from his hair by now.

"Co-Co-Commander!" a new, nervous, _very _polite stutter replaced the arrogant bark. "How nice to hear from you! How's your holiday so far?"

"Oh, nothing. Just, you know, _slacking off _and all that," Satoshi's voice, if possible, grew even more icy. Risa sweat dropped as she saw the mini snow storm floating over his head.

"Oh, hahaha…haha...ha…great joke, commander!" the inspector shrilled nervously. "Um, where are you having your very much well-deserved holiday?"

"I'm afraid it's none of your business where I choose to…_slack off _in," Risa fully expected an icy avalanche to come cascading down upon the stuttering inspector.

"That's true! Um, how are you? Are you enjoying your holiday so far?"

"I'm fine. The holiday's fine. I feel fine. The food's fine. The weather is fine. The world around me is fine. Now, let's skip all this small talk," Satoshi snapped. "What do you know about any unusual murder cases in the past?"

There was a puzzled silence from the other line until the inspector, cautiously this time, replied, "You can check the records, sir. You _are_ allowed to access to them, right?"

"Of course I am," Satoshi said, impatiently. "I mean, have you heard of any murder case, any at all, that happened but wasn't recorded in the files?"

"I'm not sure I get you," the inspector's voice was definitely on the edge now. He was wary. "If you can't have access to it, then how can I? Besides, if it wasn't recorded, what makes you think that _I'd _know about it?"

"Oh forget it," Satoshi said in disgust. "Thank you for your time. Good b-"

Suddenly, Risa snatched the phone away from him in one swift movement. Satoshi stood, stunned, his frozen right hand still by his ear where the phone used to be.

"Good day, Saehara-san!" Risa said cheerfully into the phone. Satoshi recognized that tone all too well. It was the sugary-sweet tone she used on Daisuke whenever she wanted him to do her cleaning duty for her. "Harada Risa, speaking. Your son, Saehara-kun is in our class."

"Harada….Risa?" the man repeated, confused for a second. "Oh yes! My son has been telling me about the younger Harada twin that agreed to do his homework for a week in exchange for pictures of Dark."

Satoshi thought he saw Risa's hand twitch slightly. But she covered it up with an extremely beaming kind of voice, "Saehara-kun knows how to make use of his resources. Just like his father!"

Satoshi gagged when he heard this. Was she kind of laying it on a _little_ too thick? What kind of idiot would fall for that kind of line?

Apparently, judging by the booming, wheezing chuckles coming from the phone, Inspector Saehara was.

"You see, Hiwatari-kun and I are with my sister and Niwa-kun at a summer camp up Toji Hill," she explained, still keeping the sugary voice. "We've been given a project to do by the camp master to find out the most unusual murder case of the century. Hiwatari-kun was set on getting the most unusual case ever. You _know _how competitive he is! So we figured we'd ask _you_, because you're so experienced and knowledgeable and because you've probably solved _hundreds _of cases all around Japan, talented as you are!"

More wheezing, flattered, laughter from the phone.

Satoshi felt like throwing up there and then. He couldn't hear what the inspector was booming back to Risa, but judging by the tone, he was _very _pleased.

"Oh, Saehara-san. You're too humble!" Risa giggled in a way that sent Satoshi shuddering to himself. "Of course you're the best police inspector in the force! That's why we came to you for help. Since you're always the brains behind the investigation, we figured out you'd be the best source of information on unusual cases. I'm sure you've got plenty to your credit."

Risa paused a little and said in an even more flattering tone, "No, no. The cases listed in the files won't do for Hiwatari-kun. You _know _how fussy he is! He wants to make absolutely sure no one else would take the same case as him. So, how about it? Please? You're the only one capable of helping us. A talented, bright inspector like you is bound to get involved in a secret investigation or two!"

"Really! You'd tell us? That's great! Oh, don't worry; we don't _need _the whole picture. Just a few details would be fine with us. It's an honor to have you impart your knowledge to us, no matter how little!" Risa beamed into the phone and sent a shocked Satoshi a wink.

"I see," Risa said, her voice steady but her eyes widening. Her hand gripped the cell phone tightly.

Satoshi noted Risa's reaction. His heart began to race anxiously.

"Really?" Risa paused a little. "It's fine. I'll wait for you."

Satoshi was going mad in impatience and curiosity. He paced round and round, tripping over his skirt again and again but he never stopped walking. He needed an outlet to release his frustrated impatience. If he stood still, he would've gotten mad.

"Back already, Saehara-san? Can you go on? I'm so interested-" then, she frowned suddenly. Satoshi glanced at her sharply. "Saehara-san? You're busy? But-But…what? It's classified? Oh, but…no…wait a-"

Risa dejectedly closed the cell phone and stared at Satoshi in disappointment. "So close," she sighed, leaning against the wall. She regretfully handed the cell phone back to Satoshi.

"Why? What? What happened?" Satoshi asked in a rush, fists clenching and unclenching rapidly anxiously.

"I don't know," Risa admitted, looking distressed. "One minute he was all charmed up and ready to tell me all about the case, then his cell phone rings and he asks me to wait while he takes the call. When he came back -"

"What? _What?_" Satoshi demanded.

"-he was suddenly so...so…_secretive_ and cautious. He told me abruptly that he was late for a meeting and hung up on me," Risa finished, her brows creased in anxiety.

Satoshi sank down onto the carpet, his head in his hands. So close…so, so close…

"Ne, Hiwatari-kun," Satoshi looked up to find Risa leaning down until they were practically face to face, her warm brown eyes staring steadily at his.

"Yes?" Satoshi managed to say. His face suddenly began to feel very warm. Was the oxygen deprivation working on him already?

"Guess what? Before his cell phone rang, Saehara-san managed to tell me a few interesting facts. The woman died from a stab wound to her heart with white feathers all over the place, though the lady didn't keep any birds," Risa said, slowly. Satoshi's blue eyes widened and his pulse raced. This was it…the women _he_ killed…he'd finally know who she was…why was she killed…and was it…was it really…

"She was found dead in a mansion where she lived all by herself,"

…he…who…

"And…" Risa said in a soft voice, leaning in closer. Satoshi found himself mesmerized by her deep, honey hued eyes so close to his.

…killed her?

"That lady, she was murdered around 13 years ago,"

Satoshi released a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. A tremendous weight was suddenly lifted off his chest.

"But this means…that…that means–" Satoshi breathed, chest heaving heavily as he shakily absorbed in the revelation. "-that-"

"Yes," Risa beamed; a wide smile slowly lightening up her delicate face. "You had nothing to do with her murder. You _couldn't _have….not when your DNA only starts reacting when you're fourteen."

Satoshi weakly slid down wall, unable to control the huge, happy flow of relief that flooded his body. A tired, weak but large grin broke out across Satoshi's face.

He didn't kill her…

He wasn't a murderer….

He brought up his legs against his chest and buried his head into his knees, shoulders shaking with silent sobs of relief. For months and months he had been tormented with the cruel possibility of being a murderer. But now…now he was free. Just at that simple statement, Satoshi felt tears sting his eyes. He closed them hurriedly, willing himself to get a grip of himself. He breathed in deeply, feeling himself calming down.

Now, that the initial euphoria and relief were gone, Satoshi felt some strength returning to his legs. Shakily, he stood up and leaned against the wall for support. He tossed Risa a small lopsided smile to let her know he was alright. He stood still for a moment, clearing his head.

Risa suddenly grabbed his arm, jarring him from his peaceful thoughts and dragged him down the hallway. Ignoring Satoshi's cry of protest and indignation, she said simply, "We're late."

As Satoshi stumbled behind her, crying protests all the way, inwardly, something puzzled him very much….

He didn't kill her…

He wasn't a murderer…

So why was it that, try as he might, he couldn't get the image of the tear-streaked and terrified face of that lady out of his mind?

* * *

"And the winners are……Niwa Daisuke and Hiwatari Satoshi! It's a tie!"

Satoshi stood stunned as the spotlight was turned on him and a very flustered (but pretty) Daisuke. The crowd cheered and clapped….well…the _girls _cheered and clapped. The guys just stood sullenly, shuddering visibly in disgust. Not that Satoshi blamed them. He felt very much like banging his head against the wall himself. Daisuke looked as if he was close to fainting….who knew? Maybe he was….maybe Riku made him wear a _corset_ too. Evil twin sisters………

As Satoshi scanned around the crowd, he hated to admit it, but he and Daisuke were by far…I mean very, _very_ far…far as in the distance of the moon from the earth… most convincing 'girls' in the room. The other guys well….

Think mini (as in really mini…as in so short it could've passed off as a belt) skirts and skimpy tank tops...

Think hairy legs and chests…

Piece those two mental images together…

I will now give all of you readers a moment to throw up before I proceed with the story…….

And not to mention all the thick makeup their gleeful partners had splattered onto their face. Satoshi had to grudgingly admit that he had already got it good having fashion extraordinaire Harada Risa as his partner.

Though it didn't soften the revelation that he was wearing a lacy gown and a corset and makeup….and had actually _won_ because of it. Winning a drag queen competition wasn't high in any guy's list.

Risa and Riku were happily exchanging notes of their recent frill spree. Daisuke looked as if he wanted the floor to open up and swallow him up. The fact that several guys were jokingly asking for his phone number was _not _helping. They didn't dare approach Satoshi however…

Perhaps it had something to do with the homicidal glint in his icy blue eyes that clearly said come-near-me-and-I'll-castrate-you-into-a-million-bloody-pieces-and-leave-you-to-slowly-bleed-to-death-in-some-remote-part-of-the-jungle-in-some-remote-part-of-the-world?

Or perhaps because he was cracking his knuckles so loudly that several unfortunate people near him were beginning to wince?

Or perhaps because he was currently shredding pieces of complimentary tissue paper (with a bloodthirsty gleam in his eyes) to bits with an aura of icy death swirling around him?

Most likely all of the above…

Anyhow, Daisuke was….there was only one word for it: adorable. Riku had obviously shared the same good tastes with her sister, although she didn't quite spend three quarters of her life with her nose buried in some fashion magazine.

He wore a silky red wig; quite similar to his own hair in fact, apart from the fact that it was long… and curly….and pulled back with a large pink, floppy ribbon. Daisuke wore a soft silk dress that had several different shades of red for the top and a rich royal blue for the long, dainty skirt. He had makeup on his face too, but it appeared somehow more subtle and soft than his own. And he, Satoshi hated him for this, did not have a single trace of lace or frill in his attire. Riku was, of course, the more sensible twin and did not care much for frilly things so his attire was considerably simpler and plainer than Satoshi's own lace decked gown.

That lucky moron….

But - Satoshi _had _to admit it- he looked so utterly endearing that he made everyone (even the guys, though silently and grudgingly) go 'awwwwwwwww' in high pitch squeals. Even Satoshi had to suppress a smile seeing Daisuke blush cutely over all the unwanted attention.

"Hi, _Rose _princess," Satoshi grinned teasingly as a very disgruntled Daisuke stomped his way towards him.

"Shove it, _Moon princess_," Daisuke snapped back in a very rare display of annoyance. Satoshi felt his eyes twitch. Moon princess and Rose princess were the nicknames Haruka had so lovingly bestowed upon in front of a crowd of snickering spectators.

"Um, do we get to change soon?" Satoshi questioned, scowling at his gown.

"I don't think so. I heard something about a photo shoot," Daisuke sighed, shoulders slumping. Satoshi paled. Photo shoot? In general, Satoshi disliked getting his picture taken. He always felt too….exposed…when the lenses were pointed at him. Maybe it was something to do with being a police commander who spends half his life getting on the bad side of a couple too many hostile guns. But getting his photo taken…while he somewhat resembled a demented lacy-happy princess…was too much to bear.

"If anyone asks, I suddenly developed a rare kind of skin disease and can only be cured if I fly over to China at once to consult a monk," Satoshi muttered to Daisuke as he hurriedly slipped out of the stuffy room.

"Where's Hiwatari-kun headed to in such a hurry?" Risa asked, appearing suddenly at a stunned Daisuke's side.

"He suddenly developed a rare kind of skin disease and has to fly over to China at once to consult a monk," Daisuke replied in a robot-like monotone, looking slightly dazed. Risa raised an amused eyebrow. Wow, someone _had _to teach the poor innocent boy how to lie.

"Alright, I'll go out and catch him before he 'gets onto his plane'," Risa said, rolling her eyes as she stepped towards the grand double doors leaving a very confused Daisuke behind.

The hallway was empty. For someone who had been slipping and stumbling over his skirt for the last half an hour, Satoshi could certainly move very fast. Risa grumbled under her breath and jogged down the hallway, keeping her eyes peeled for any stumbling, blue movements.

There! Blue…check. Black wig…check. Stumbling...check. Wobbling….check. Falling…check. Swearing like a sailor…check

Yep, it was him alright.

"Oi, Hiwatari-kun! Wait up!" Risa called as she sprinted towards the disgruntled blue mess.

"What?" Satoshi grunted at the panting girl jogging up next to him.

"Where _are_ you going in such a hurry?" Risa wheezed, clutching her chest. Harada Risa was not made for athletic activities. So far, she had been able to evade her P.E class for the past years by faking an asthma fit every time she stepped foot onto the field. She was a pretty convincing actress. She had practically every boy (but a certain blue haired genius) in class hurrying over to her anxiously whenever she did her dramatic, wheezing exploits.

"Away," he replied stiffly. He fastened his pace into a quick jog.

Not to be out jogged, Risa fastened her pace to match his. "Away where?" she pressed persistently. The boy sent her an icy glare. Risa replied back with a glare of her own.

"Hey, do you know-oof!" Suddenly, a boy wearing a white shirt bumped into Satoshi, disrupting his already precarious balance. Winded, Satoshi fell into a rather awkward heap on the carpet….again.

"Oops, sorry miss," the boy laughed nervously, putting a hand behind his head. "I'm just a little lost. I just arrived and-"

Risa scrapped her jaw off the ground and gaped aloud, "Saehara-kun! What on earth are you doing here?"

The photographer wannabe gapped back, "Harada-san! You're here!"

"What on earth are you doing here?" Risa repeated, shocked beyond belief. Satoshi just stared, dumbstruck.

"My dad suddenly packed me off and whisked me away to this camp," Saehara Takeshi shrugged, looking more than slightly put out. "Wouldn't tell me anything, just literally threw me into the car. I didn't even know where I was going at first."

Wait, Inspector Saehara suddenly booting his son off to camp on a whim? That didn't sound like him at all. Satoshi frowned slightly. What was he planning to do, sending his son here? Risa seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

"Why did your father send you here?" Risa asked warily.

"How should I know?" Takeshi replied irritably. "I was just taking pictures, minding my own business, then the next thing I know, he dashes through the front door and screams at me to pack up, and that I was going to summer camp. Then all of a sudden, I'm in the backseat of his car with him driving and breaking the speed limit. I swear, for a moment, the car actually defied gravity and lifted a few inches off the ground."

Both Risa and Satoshi believed him. Takeshi was as good at lying as Risa was at lacrosse, and to date she had sent three people to the nurse's office with various injuries from her wild, unpredictable lacrosse stick and atrocious aiming. _How_ Harada Risa mistook human heads for lacrosse balls no one knew. When he lied, his face would get all flustered and his eyes would shift from side to side guiltily. But now his eyes revealed nothing but pure confusion and aggravation.

"How did your father find out about this camp?" Satoshi demanded, pulling himself off the ground. The detective's son gaped at him as though he had noticed him for the first time.

"Um, he didn't actually say, miss," Takeshi replied, blushing slightly for some unknown reason. "He didn't tell me anything at all."

Satoshi sighed in frustration, rumpling his glossy black wig. The fact that his face was starting to itch from all the makeup was not improving his mood.

"So, you have a name, miss?" Takeshi suddenly asked. Risa blanched slightly. She recognized that tone. It was the 'you-know-you-can't-resist-a-handsome-suave-devil-like-me' tone he obviously considered irresistible to women. Dear gods, was he trying to _hit on_ Hiwatari Satoshi…..?

Satoshi, fortunately oblivious of this fact, gave him a cold look and shoved him roughly out of his way, muttering irritably, "Move it, idiot. I'm in a hurry."

Takeshi jolted out of his way hurriedly and stared wide eyed at the black haired beauty stomping down the corridor.

"Harada-san," the photographer whispered, reverently.

"I think I'm in love,"

* * *

Bwahahahaha!!!! I'm evil :P And by the way, just to clear things up, this is NOT a yaoi fic. I don't have the stomach to write those kinds of fics…o.o; Anyhow, Cookies and fudges to anyone who reviews! 


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